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OIECULAE 



Us. 

THE GENEKAL LAND OEEICE, 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, 
/ TIMBER CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 



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ISSUED DECEMBER 1, 1877. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1877. 



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OIEOULAE 



DEPARTMENT OE THE INTERIOR, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. C, December 1, 1877. 

The following is communicated in reference to the manner of acquiring title to the public lands under 
different laws of Congress : 

The States and Territories containing public lands of the United States are divided into districts. In 
each district there is a land office established by law, with a register and a receiver in attendance for the sale 
or other disposal of the public lands therein. See sections 2234 to 2247 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, copies hereto attached, No. 1. 

Of agricultural public lands there are two classes, the one class at $1.25 per acre, which is designated 
as minimum, and the other at $2.50 per acre, or double minimum. 

Title may be acquired by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary "private entry," and in virtue of 
the pre-emption, homestead, and timber-culture laws. 

BY PURCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE. 

1. This may be done where lands are "offered" at public auction to the highest bidder, either pur- 
suant to proclamation by the President or public notice given, in accordance with directions from the 
General Land Office. 

BY "PRIVATE ENTRY" OR LOCATION. 

2. The lands liable to disjjosal in this manner are those which have been offered at public sale, which 
were not then sold, and which have not since been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from market. In this 
class of offered and unreserved public lands, the following steps may be taken to acquire title : 

CASH PURCHASES. 

3. The applicant will present a written application to the register for the district in which the land 
desired is situated, describing the tract he wishes to purchase, giving its area, form No. 6. Thereupon the 
register, if the tract is vacant, will so certify to the receiver, stating the price, and the applicant must then 
pay the amount of the purchase money. 

The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, in duplicate, giving to the purchaser a 
duplicate receipt, form No. 7. The register will issue his certificate of iDiirchase, form No. 8. At the close 
of the month, the register and receiver will make returns of the sale to the General Land Office, from 
which, when the proceedings are found regular, a patent or complete title will be issued ; and on surrender 
of the duplicate receipt, such patent will be delivered, at the option of the patentee, either by the Commis- 
sioner at Washington or by the register at the district land office. 



LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 

4 Application musl be made as in cash eases, but must be accompanied by a warrant duly assigned 
•,s the consideration for the land; yet wbere tiie tract is $2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the sur- 
rendered warrant, must pay in cash fl.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only so many acres 
at $1 25 per acre or furnish a warrant of such denomination as will, at the legal value of $1.25 per acre, 
cover the rated price of the land. For example : a tract of 40 acres of land, held at $2.50 per acre, can 
be paid for with a warrant calling for 10 acres and the payment of $50 in cash, or by surrendering an 
eighty-acre wan-ant for the same— the 10 acres to be in full satisfaction for the said location. Or a tract 
,,t : sn acres, rated at $2.50 per acre, can be paid for by the surrender of two eighty-acre warrants. If there 
small excess in the area of the tract over the quantity call.nl for on the face of the warrant in any case, 
such excess may be paid for in money. 

A duplicate certificateof location will then be furnished the party, to be held until the patent is deliv- 
ered, as in cases of cash sales. 

The following fees are chargeable by the land officers, and the several amounts must be paid at the 

of location : 

p or „ |u .,, ra warrant, 50 cents each in the register and receiver— total, $1.00. 

I'm- a 60-acre warrant, 75 cents " " " " l- :i "- 

11.00 •' " " " 2-0°- 

For a 120-acre warrant, $1.50 " " " " 3.00. 

60-acre warrant, $2.00 " " " " 4 - 00 - 

A'.im ri,TiKAi.-coJ.i.i:cF, scrip. 

5. This Bcrip may 1«' used — 

Fust. In the location of land at "private entry," but when so used is only applicable to lands not 
mineral which may be subject to private entry at $1.25 per acre, yet is restricted to a technical "quarter 
gtction"— that is, land embraced by the quarter-section lines indicated on the official plats of survey; or it 
may be located on a port of :l "quarter section," where Buch part is taken as in full for a quarter; but it 
cannot be applied to different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a quarter section. The manner 
of proceeding to acquire title with this class of paper is the same as in cash and warrant cases, the fees to be 
paid being the -an..' as on warrants. The location of this scrip at private entry is restricted to three sec 
tions in each township of land, and one million acres in any one State. 

In pa] menl of pre-emption claims, in the same manner and under the same rules and regula- 
,;,., .„ the application to pre-emptions of military land warrants; this, too, without regard to the 

limitation as to the quantity located in a township or in any one State. 

Third. In payment for homes* ade commuted under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States, copy attached. 

PRE-EMPTIONS ADMISSIBLE TO THE EXTENT OP ONE QUARTER SECTION, OR ONE HUNDRED AND 

SIXTY ACRES. 

6. Th« -.■ are admitted under sections 2257 to 2288 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, copies 
of which sections are hereto attached, upon "offered" ami "unoffered" lands, and upon any of the unsur- 
veyed lands belonging to the United Stat.- to which the Indian title is extinguished, although in the case 
of unsurveyed land- no definite proceedings can he had as to the completion of the title until after the sur- 
vey- -hall have been extended and officially returned to the district land office. 

The pre-emption privilege is restricted to heads ..I' families, widows, or single persons over the age of 

twenty- s, who are citizens of the I baited Stat.-, or who have declared their intention to become citizens, 

:1 - required by the naturalization laws. This does not include Indians, except such as have ceased their 
tribal relations and been declared .-iti/ens by treaties or acts of Congress. 



7. The right of pre-emption, formerly extended by act of Congress of March 3, 1853, for one quarter 
section, or 160 acres, at the price of $2.50 per acre, to the alternate United States or reserved sections 
along the line of railroads, is continued by the Revised Statutes, sections 2257, 2259, and 2279. 

S. Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers on sections along the line of railroads, where 
settlement existed prior to withdrawal, and in such cases allows the land to be taken by the pre-emptors at 
$1.25 per acre, but requires that they shall file the proper notices of their claims, and make proof and pay- 
ment, as in other cases. 

9. "Where the tract is "offered" land, the party must file with the district land office his declaratory 
statement as to the fact of his settlement within thirty days from the date of said settlement, form No. 11, 
and within one year from date of settlement must aprjear before the register and receiver and make proof 
of his actual residence on, and cultivation of, the tract, and secure the same by paying cash, or locating 
thereon military bounty land warrants or agricultural-college scrip, according to law. 

10. Where the tract has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the claimant must file his 
declaratory statement within three months from date of settlement, form No. 10, and make proof and pay- 
ment within thirty months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing his declaratory notice, 
or, in other words, within thirty-three months from date of settlement ; — forms No. 12 and 13. 

11. Where settlements are made on wnswrveyed lands, settlers are required, within three months after 
the date of the receipt at the district land office of the approved plat of the township embracing their 
claims, to file their declaratory statement Avith the register of the proper land office, form No. 10, and 
thereafter to make proof and payment for the tract within thirty months from the expiration of said three 
months; — forms No. 12 and 13. 

"When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey to be residing upon, or to have 
valuable improvements upon, the same smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such tract, 
and separate entries of the residue of their claims. This joint entry may be made in pursuance of contract 
between the parties, or without it. (Revised Statutes, Sec. 2274.) 

12. Should the settler in either of the aforesaid cases die befor« establishing his claim within the 
period limited by law, the title may be perfected by the executor, administrator, or one of the heirs, by 
making the requisite proof of settlement and paying for the land; the entry to be made in the name of 
"the heirs" of the deceased settler; and the patent will be issued accordingly. The legal representatives 
of the deceased pre-emptor are entitled to make the entry at any time within the period during which 
the pre-emptor would have been entitled to do so had he lived. 

Section 2261 of the Revised Statutes prohibits the second filing of a declaratory statement by any pre- 
ercrptor qualified at the date of his first filing where said filing has been in all respects legal. Where the 
first filing, however, is illegal from any cause, not the willful act of the party, he has the right to make a 
second and legal filing. 

LAWS EXTENDING THE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 

13. The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 2289 to 2317 of the Revised 
Statutes, — copies attached, — give to every citizen, and to those who have declared their intention to become 
citizens, the right to a homestead on surveyed lands. This is conceded to the extent of one quarter section, 
or 160 acres, or a half-quarter section, or 80 acres, the former in cases where the land desired is embraced 
in the class of lower priced lands held by law at $1.25 per acre, when disposed of to cash purchasers; the 
latter where it is of the class of higher priced lands held at $2.50 per acre, when so disposed of. 

14. To obtain a homestead, the party must, in connection with his application, form No. 14, make an 
affidavit, form No. 15, before the register or receiver that he is over the age of twenty-one, or the head of 
a family; that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such; and that 
the entry is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation ; and must pay 
the legal fee and that part of the commissions which is payable when the entry is made, as given in tables 
below. 



IV Where the applicant has made actual settlement on the land he desires to enter, but is prevented 
by reason of bodily infirmity, distance, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land 
office, the affidavit max- he made before the clerk of the court for the county within which the land is sit- 
uated, under Bection 2294 of the Revised Statutes. 

16. On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the receiver will issue his receipt 
for tlie fee and that part of the commissions paid, form No. 16, a duplicate of which he will deliver to the 
party. The matter will then he entered on the records of the district office, and reported to the General 

Land Office, 

17. An inceptive right i- vested in the settler by such proceedings, and upon faithful observance of 
the law in regard to settlement and cultivation for the continuous term of five years, and at the expiration 
of that time, or within two years then alter, upon proper proof to the satisfaction of the land officers, forms 
No. 17 and IS, and payment u> the receiver of that part of the commissions remaining to be paid, as given 
in tables below, the receiver issuing bis receipt therefor, the register will issue his certificate, forms No. 19 
and 20, and make proper returns to this office as the basis of a patent or complete title for the homestead. 
If the party was horn in a foreign country, the proof must embrace a copy of his certificate of naturaliza- 
tion, duly certified, or an exemplification of the order of court admitting him to citizenship. 

Notb. — 'I'lii- law i* Bpeoifie in requiring final proof to be made within too years alter the expiration of the five years. 

There are two methods by which thesettler may proceed in making final proof. Should he so elect, 
lie may make the proof before the register and receiverof the district land office, according to official regu- 
lation- under Bection 2291 of the Revised Statute-. These regulations are as follows, viz: 

In malting final proof, it is required that the homestead party shall appear in person at the district 
land office, and there make the affidavit required of him by law in support of his claim. Where, from 
physical disability, distance, or other good cause, the witnesses <<(' said party cannot attend in person at the 

district office, their testimony in support of the claim may he taken where (hey reside, before an officer 
authorized by law to administer oaths. 

Their testimony mu-t state satisfactorily the reason of their inability to attend at the district office; 
and the credibility and responsibility of the witnesses must he certified by the officiating magistrate, whose 
official character mu-t l>c authenticated under Beal. 

The corroborating testimony thus prepared must he deposited with the register and receiver, and filed 
witli the affidavit of the homestead party, and the decision of the register and receiver indorsed thereon, as 

a preliminary to the transmission of the same to the General Land Office. 

The act of March ■'., 1877, copy attached, No. '-', provides a second method of making the proof of 

which the -ettler may avail himself, should he 30 elect 

The party desiring to avail himself thereof must appear with his witnesses before the judge of a court 
of ren, I'd of the county and State, or district and Territory, in which the land is situated, and there make 
the fmal proof required by law, according to the forms prescribed therefor when made before the register 
and receiver, Nos. 17 and is, which proof, duly authenticated by the court seal, is required to he transmitted 
by the judge, or the clerk of the court, to the register and receiver, together with the fee and charges 
allowed by law. See :;d, 10th, and 1-th Bub-divisions of section 2H38 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United 9 pj attached. 

The judge being absent in any case, the proof may he made before the clerk of the proper court. 
The tact of the- absence of the judge must he certified ill the papers by the clerk acting in his place. 

If the land in anv case is situated iii an unorganized county, the statute provides that the party may 
proceed to make the proof in the manner indicated in any adjacent county in the State or Territory. The 
fact that the counts' in which the land lies i- unorganized, and that the county in which the proof is made 

i- adjacent thereto, must be certified by the officer. 

In any case when- the fmal proof -hall he transmitted to the register and receiver, as contemplated in 
T > i ' — act, ami the full amount of money due shall he paid, they will carefully examine the proof, and if no 



objection appeal's, proceed to issue the receipt and certificate in the case, and make proper returns to this 
office as the basis of a patent or complete title for the homestead, pursuant to existing laws. If any objection 
appears, they will promptly notify the party and advise him of his rights in the matter. 

18. "Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, the widow, or in case of her 
death the heirs, may continue settlement or cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper 
time. If the widow proves up, the title passes to her ; if she dies before proving up and the heirs make 
the proof, the title will vest in them. 

Where both parents die, leaving infant heirs, the homestead may be sold for cash for the benefit of such 
heirs, and the purchaser will receive title from the United States. 

19. The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before completion of title is not 
recognized by this office, and not only vests no title or equities in the purchaser, but would be prima facie 
evidence of abandonment, and might give cause for cancellation of the claim. 

A party may relinquish his claim, but on his doing so the land reverts to the Government. The party 
so desiring should surrender the duplicate receipt issued for the entry, with his written relinquishment of 
the same indorsed thereon, to the register and receiver of the proper district land office. If the duplicate 
receipt has been lost, he should submit to those officers a written relinquishment of the entry, in which he 
should state the fact of the loss of the duplicate receipt, and which should be duly signed and acknowledged. 
The register and receiver will report the relinquishment, as any other evidence of abandonment, with their 
opinion thereon, for the action of this office. 

Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead entry on the ground of abandonment, 
the party must 'file his affidavit with the district land officers, setting forth the allegations on which his 
application is founded, describing the tract, and giving the name of the settler. Upon this the officers will 
set apart a day for a hearing, giving all the parties in interest due notice of the time and place of trial. 

After the trial, the land officers will transmit the testimony, with their joint report, for the action of 
this office. 

The expenses incideut to such a contest must be defrayed by the contestant, and no entry of the land 
can be made until the district officers have received notice from this office of the cancellation of the entry 
covering the same ; nor does an informant obtain any privileges thereby. Such person must ,if he desires 
the land, by proper diligence ascertain when notice of cancellation is received by the register and receiver, 
and then make formal written application for the tract; the land, after reception by said officers of notice 
of cancellation, being always open to the first legal applicant, unless withdrawn from entry by competent 
authority. 

20. As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim 
cannot thereafter make a second entry; but where, a party having made one entry, it is canceled as invalid 
for some reason other than abandonment, and not the willful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred 
from entering again if in other respects entitled. 

Where an individual has made settlement on a tract and filed his pre-emption declaration therefor, he 
may change his filing into a homestead, if he continues in good faith to comply with the pre-emption laws 
until the change is effected; and by an act of Congress of March 3, 1877, copy attached, No. 3, the time 
during which the party has resided upon and claimed the land as a pre-emptor will be credited upon the 
period of residence and cultivation required under the homestead laws. 

Under this statute a party desiring to change his claim under a pre-emption filing to that of a home- 
stead entry is required, in making the change, to appear at the proper land office, with his witnesses, and 
show full compliance with the j>re-emption law to date of such change, proof of such compliance to be 
forwarded with the entry papers to this office. When the party applies to make final proof, he must show 
continued residence and cultivation as required by the homestead laws. 

In case an adverse claim has attached to the land, due notice, in accordance with Rules of Practice, 
must be given all parties in interest of the time and place of submitting proof in support of the applica- 



8 

tion to make such change. The adverse claimants will be entitled to the privilege of cross-questioning the 
applicant's witnesses and of offering counter-proof. 

21. If the homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his tract, the law permits him to 
pay f< a it with cash or warrants, or agricultural-college scrip, upon making proof of settlement and cultiva- 
tion for a period of not less than six months from the date of entry to the time of payment; form No. 21. 

This proof of actual settlement and cultivation must be the affidavit of the party, made before the. 
district officers, corroborated by the testimony of two credible witnesses. 

22. There i- another class of homesteads designated as "adjoining farm homesteads." In these cases, 
the law allow- an applicant owning and residing on an original farm to enter other land lying contiguous 
thereto, which shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. Thus, for example, a party 
owning or occupying 80 acres, may enter 80 additional, without regard to price, whether held at $1.25 or 
| •0 per acre; or if owning 40 acres, he may enter 120 acres additional of land held at $1.25 per acre, 
but cannot exceed the maximum of si i aires, where the land proposed to be entered is held at $2.50 per acre. 

In applying for an entry of this class, the party mint make affidavit, form No. 22, describing the tract 
which he owns and upon which he resides as his original farm. In making final proof, it is not required 
that he should prove actual residence on the separate trad entered ; but if he does not, it must appearfroni 
the proof adduced, forms No. 23 and 2 1, that lie has continued tor the period required by law to reside 
upon and cultivate the original farm trad, and has bondrfide made use of the entered tract as a part of the 
homestead, inclosing, cultivating, or otherwise improving the same. 

23. J'i for the benefit of soldiers and sailors of the Idle war, their widows and minor orphan 

ehM . actions 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2308, and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, for the benefit of 

soldiers and Bailors, their widows and minor orphan children, provide — 

1-t. In Bection 2304, that every soldier and officer in the Army, and every seaman, marine, and officer 
of the Navy, who served for not [ess than ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States "during 

the recent rebellion," and who was 1 orably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, may 

enter, under the provisions of the homestead law, 160 acres of the public laud, to be taken, if desired, from 
the class of double-minimum lands. 

I'd. In Bection 2305, that the time of hi- service, or tin: whole term of his enlistment if the party was 
discharged on account of wounds or disability incurred in the line of duty, shall be deducted from the period 
of five years, during which, aa per Bection 22! U, the claimant must, to perfect title, reside upon and cultivate 
the entered tract, but with the proviso that the party shall in every case reside upon, improve, and cultivate 
hi- homestead for a period of at least year after lie -hall have commenced his improvements. 

3d. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2304 who had, prior to the 22d June, 1874, 
made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may enter an additional quantity of land sufficient to make, 
with tlie pr ev i ous entry, inn aa 

4th. That the widow, if tin married, or in caseof her death or marriage, then the minor orphan children, 
■ if a person who would be entitled to the benefits of Bection 2:304, may enter land under its provisions, with 
the additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his term of enlistment, the widow or minor 
children .-hall have the benefit of the whole term of enlistment. 

5th. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file his claim for a tract of land 
through an agent, and -hall have six months thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his 
settlement and improvement upon the land. 

24. The following i- the course of proceedings for parties to avail themselves of the benefits of these 
■II- of the Revised Statutes in making homestead entries : 

1-t. On the party producing the proper proof of his right to do so, immediate entry of the tract desired 

may 1»; made; but if the party BO elect, he may tile a dclaration, form No. 25, to the effect that he claims 

a specified tract of hmd as his homestead, and that he lakes it for actual settlement and cultivation. The 

iter and receiver will number the declaration- so filed in a separate series, according to- the order of filing, 



enter them on their records, and with their monthly returns forward an abstract, to embrace all declarations 
of this class filed with them during the month. Thereafter, at any time within six months from the date of 
filing, the party may come forward, make his entry of the land, forms of application and affidavits Nos. 
26 and 27, and commence his settlement and improvement. Should the party present his declaration through 
an agent as authorized by section 2309, said agent must produce a duly executed power of attorney from 
the principal desiring to make the entry, who will be bound by the selection his agent may make the same 
as though made by himself. Where the party has failed to make entry within six months from the date of 
filing, in all cases where no adverse right has intervened to the land filed upon, a direct entry may be made, 
either of the tract filed on or of other unappropriated lands, without referring the case to this office as formerly 
required under circular of May 17, 1873. 

2d. T lie claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated by declaration, as above. Minor 
orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardians, who must file certified copies of the powers 
of guardianship, which must be transmitted to this office by the registers and receivers with their abstracts 
of declarations. The law does not require, as a condition to enjoying its benefits, that the party should first 
file a declaratory statement, and, as before stated, immediate entry may be made. 

3d. Where a party entitled desires to make an additional entry of a quantity which, with his original 
entry, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres, it is required that a full recital of military service be 
presented to this office, with due proof of the identity of the party making the' claim, and with proper 
reference to his original homestead entry, giving the name of the district office, date and number of entry, 
and description of the land. In addition, a detailed statement, under oath, must be filed by the party in 
interest, setting forth the facts respecting his right to make the entry, and containing his declaration that 
he has not in any manner exercised his right, either by previous entry or application, or by sale, transfer, 
or power of attorney,, but that the same remains in him unimpaired. He must also declare, under oath, 
that he has made full compliance with the homestead law in the matter of residence upon, cultivation and 
improvement of, his original homestead entry ; and should further recite whether or not he has proved up 
his claim and received a patent of the laud. 

When these papers are filed and examined, they will, if found satisfactory, be returned with a certifi- 
cate attached recognizing the right of the party to make additional entry under the law; and when pre- 
sented with a proper application at any district land office, either by the party entitled or his agent or 
attorney, they will be accepted by the register and receiver, and forwarded with the entry papers to this 
office in the usual manner. 

The fee for examination and certificate, under the seal of the office, will be one dollar, which must in 
all cases accompany the papers presented for approval. 

Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and receiver will require him to 
make application in the form prescribed, No. 28, and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of 
original entry; the receiver will issue his receipt for the money paid, and these papers will receive the 
current date and the proper numbers in their homestead series. Then, to complete the transaction — it being 
an object, for the convenience of business, that the additional entry papers, and the final papers therefor, in 
such cases, shall be kept separate and distinct — the party will make jiaynient of the usual final commissions 
on the entered tract, for which the receiver will issue his receipt; the register will thereupon issue his final 
certificate for the additional tract, form No. 29, the receipt and certificate to bear their proper numbers in 
the final homestead series, likewise a reference to the original entry and to the final certificate thereon by 
their number, and also by their district where the party's first entry shall have been made in a different 
district. 

In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry when he applies for additional 
land, he will be allowed to make the additional entry on proper application, as above stated, and paying 
the usual fee and commissions, for which the receiver will issue his receipt; the papers to receive their 
proper numbers in the homestead series, with a reference thereon to the original entry. Thereafter, when 



10 

the party shall make final proof on the original entry, he will be required to pay the final commissions on 
both entries, when a final receipt will be issued for the money, and thereupon a final certificate issued to 
call both for the tract in the original entry and the additional tract. On these papers the register and 
receiver will make a reference to the original and the additional entry, and on them one patent will issue 
tor both: vet where it happens that the original entry and the additional entry are made in different land 
districts, this rule most be departed from, so far as regards the issuing of one final certificate and receipt 
for both. 

2"). Tlie following proof will he required of parties applying for the benefits of sections 2304, 2305, 
and 2307, in addition m the prescribed affidavit of the applicant: 

1st. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party enlisted and when he was dis- 
charged, or the affidavit of two respectable, disinterested witnesses corroborative of the allegations con- 
tained in tlie prescribed affidavit, form No. 27, on these points. If neither can be procured, the party's 
affidavit to that effect. 

2d. In case of widow-, tlie prescribed evidence of military service of the husband, as above, with 
affidavit of widowhood, giving the date of the husband's death. 

3d. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence of military service of 
tin- father, proof of death or marriage of tlie mother. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two 
wit ii. — b, or certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage may be certified copy of marriage 
certificate, or of the' record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 

26. lie register and receiver will be allowed to charge one dollar each for receiving and filing tlie 
initiatory declaration of the parties in cases where such declarations are filed. This fee the receiver will 
account for in the usual manner, indicating tlie same in his account as fees for "homestead declarations," 
which will be charged against the maximum of $3,000 now allowed by law. In the States and Territories 
tor which 50 per centum additional is allowed by tlie twelfth subdivision of section 2238 of the Revised 
- ut.-, (he additional allowance will apply to the fee herein named, viz: California, Oregon, AYashington, 
Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. 

27. Provisions for the benefit of Indiana. — The loth and 16th sections of the act of March 3, 1875, 
.. attaebed, .No. o,! extends the benefits of the homestead act of May 20, 1862, and the acts amenda- 
tory thereof, (now embodied in sections 2290, 2291, 2292, and 2295 to 2302, inclusive, of the Revised 
Statutes,) to any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the 
age of twenty-one year-, and who ha- abandoned, <>r may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, with the 

i ption that the provisions of the eighth section of said act of 1862 (section 2301 of the Revised Statutes) 
-hall not !»• held to apply to entries made thereunder, and with the proviso that the title to lands acquired 
by any Indian by virtue thereof -hall not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, cither by voluntary 
conveyance, or the judgment, decree, or order of any court, and shall be ami remain inalienable for a period 
of five \ear- from the date "f the patent issued therefor. 

An Indian desiring to enter public land under this act must make application to the register and 
receiver of the proper district land office; also an affidavit setting forth the fact of his Indian character; 
that he was !>orn iii the United State-; that he is the head of a family, or has arrived at the age of twenty- 

■ years; that he ha- abandoned bis tribal relations and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life, 

form No. 30, and this must !*• corroborated by the affidavits of two or more disinterested witnesses, 
form No. 31. 

If no objection appears, the register and receiver will then permit him to enter the tract desired 
according to eTJating regulations, so far as applicable, under the homestead law, the register writing across 
the foce of the application, form No. 14, the words "Indian homestead — act of March 3,1875;" they 
will note the entry on their records and make returns thereof to this office, with which they will send the 
affidavits submitted. It will be observed that the provisions of the eighth section of the act of May 20, 



11 

18(52, (section 2301 of the Revised Statutes,) which admit of the commuting of homestead to cash entries, 
do not apply to this class of homesteads. 

28. All lands obtained under the homestead laws are exempt from liability for debts contracted prior 
to the issuing of patent therefor. 

29. For homestead entries on lands in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, 
Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, fees are 
to be paid according to the following table : 



Acres. 


Price 
per 
acre. 


Commissions. 


Fee. 


Total of fee and 
commissions. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


Payable when 
certificate issues. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


160 

80 
40 

80 
40 


$1 25 
1 25 

1 25 

2 50 
2 50 


$4 00 
2 00 

1 00 
4 00 

2 00 


$4 00 
2 00 

1 00 
4 00 

2 00 


$10 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 


$18 00 

9 00 

7 00 

13 00 

9 00 



Note. — Where entries are made on $2.50 lands by officers, soldiers, and sailors, under sec- 
tion 2304 of the Revised Statutes, double the amount of the above commissions must of course 
be paid ; that is, for 160 acres of $2.50, $8 at the date of entry, and $8 upon proving up. 

In addition to the States and Territories named, the above rates will apply to Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois, if any vacant tracts can be found liable to entry in these three States, where but very few isolated 
tracts of public land remain undisposed of. 

30. In the Pacific and other political divisions, viz, on lands in California, Nevada, 
Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and "Washington, and in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, 
and Montana, the commissions and fees are to be paid according to the following table: 



Acres. 


Price 
per 
acre. 


Commissions. 


Fee. 


Total of fee and 
commissions. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


Payable when 
certificate issues. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


160 

80 
40 
80 
40 


$1 25 
1 25 

1 25 

2 50 
2 50 


$6 00 
3 00 
1 50 
6 00 
3 00 


$6 00 
3 00 
1 50 
6 00 
3 00 


$10 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 


$22 00 

11 00 

8 00 

17 00 

11 00 



The note to the table under the 29th head applies also to this table of rates. 



OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS. 

31. In reference to disposals of any remnant of public lands in these States, it may be pfopef hefe to 
introduce the following regulations for the admission of entries by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, under Act of March 3, 1877, in States lohere there are no district land offices: 

The act of Congress of March 3, 1877, making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and 
judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1878, provides: "That public lands 
situated in States in which there are no land offices may be entered at the General Land Office, subject to 
the provisions of law touching the entry of public lands; and that the necessary proofs and affidavits 
required in such cases may be made before some officer competent to administer oaths, whose official 
character shall be duly certified by the clerk of a court of record ; and moneys received by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office for lands entered by cash entry shall be covered into the Treasury." 



12 

Under these provisions the Commissioner of the General Land Office is prepared to perform the 
duties which, by law, wore devolved upon the registers and receivers of the district land offices at 
Chillieothe, Ohio, Springfield, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, prior to the abolition of those offices by 
act of Congress of July 31, 1876. 

In so doing, he will receive applications accompanied by the purchase money, or fees and commissions, 
as the case mav be, from parties desiring to enter any isolated tracts which may remain undisposed of in 
said Siat.-, rather from tin- parties in person or through the mails, and in like manner any proof or 
payment proper to perfect entries already made, take the proper action thereon, and duly advise the parties, 
in regular course of business. 

The following method will be observed in carrying into eflhet the provisions of the act: 

1-t. A clerk will be designated by the Commissioner to receive and act upon the applications which 

mav !><■ offered for such entries, and to bave charge of the correspondence connected therewith; all moneys 

go into the charge of the receiving clerk, designated under the act of July 2, 1804, and any 

moneys found to belong to the United Stan- on the cases being finally passed upon to be turned over to 

the Treasury, according to law. 

'2<\. Applications will he immediately entered in a preliminary abstract for each State in the order in 
which they are received; will be carefully examined in connection with the plats, files, and records, 
and admitted or rejected, according to the law and instructions governing the case. From such prelimi- 
nary abstracts, the admitted applications will be carried to a regular monthly abstract, and the j>roper 
certificates and receipts will be issued hv the Commissioner, acting as ex officio register and receiver. 
The entries thus admitted will Ik? properly posted in the tract-books, and the papers therefor placed on file, 
for such further action as may lie necessary. These entries will be numbered consecutively in continuation 
of the series entered upon at the respective district offices. The applicants will be promptly advised of the 
n--ult of the examination, and, where the desired entries are admitted, will be furnished with the appropri- 

per to !»■ held as evidence of title until delivery of the patents. 
3d. In case of conflicting applications, that which is first received shall be first acted upon, as above 
directed, and will be considered as giving the applicant the legal right to the tract applied for, if unexcep- 
tionable in other respects. 

LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 

The timljer-culture act of March 13, 1874, (copy attached, No. 4,) amendatory of the act of March 
3, 1 ions -• 16 I to 2 168 of the Revised Statutes,) is to the following effect: 

1. The privilege of entry under this act is confined to persons who are heads of families, or over 
twenty-one yean of age, and who are citizen- of the United States, or have declared their intention to 
become such; form of application, No. 32. 

-. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under this act (form No. 33) may be made before 
the r receiver of the district office for the land district embracing the desired tract, or before 

some officer authorized to administer oath- in that district who is required by law to use an official seal; 

3. Not more than one hundred and sixty acres in any one section can be entered under this act; 

1. The privilege of making more than one entry thereunder is confined to such parties as shall enter, 
in each and every instance, a fractional subdivision of less than 40 acres, and the aggregate area of such 
entries shall not exceed 160 acres; 

5. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, &c, is, all cases initiated under the first section 
of this act, one-fourth of the land embraced in the entry ; 

6. One-fourth part of the area required to be devoted to timber mast be broken within one year from 
of entry; one-fourth part more within two years from date of entry; and the remaining one-half 

within three years from date of entry; 



13 

7. One-fourtli part of the area required to be devoted to timber must be planted within two years 
from date of entry; one-fourth part more within three years from date of entry; and the remaining one- 
half within four years from date of entry ; 

8. The trees are required to be not more than twelve feet apart each way, and the same are required 
to be protected, cultivated, and kept in a healthy growing condition for eight years next succeeding the 
date of entry; 

9. If, at the expiration of the said eight years, or at any time within five years thereafter, the person 
making the entry, or, if he or she be dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two 
credible witnesses the fact of such planting, cultivation, &c, of the said timber for not less than the said 
period of eight years, he, she, or they shall receive a patent for the land embraced in said entry ; 

10. In case of the death of a person who, having entered a quarter section, has complied with the 
provisions of this act for the period of three years — that is to say, who has broken ten acres the first year, 
ten acres the second year, and twenty acres the third year ; and who has planted ten acres with timber 
the second year, and ten acres the third year — then, and in that case, his or her heirs or legal representatives 
shall be permitted, at their option, to continue to comply with the provisions of this act during the 
unexpired portion of the eight years, and thereupon receive a patent for said quarter section; or, on 
making proper proof of the compliance of the deceased party with the requirements of the act for the 
said period of three years, they shall receis r c, without delay, a patent for forty acres of said quarter section, 
upon the condition that they relinquish to the United States all claim to the remainder of the land embraced 
in such entry; 

11. If at any time after one year from the date of entry under the first section of this act, and 
prior to the issue of a patent therefor, the claimant shall have failed to do the breaking and planting 
required by this act, or any part thereof, or shall fail to cultivate, protect, and keep in good condition such 
timber, then, and in that event, such land shall become liable to a contest, in the manner provided in 
homestead cases; and upon due proof of such failure, the entry shall be canceled and the land become 
again subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other person under the provisions of this act; 

12. A party at the time of instituting contest is allowed to make application to enter the land. 
The register will thereupon indorse upon the application the date of its presentation, and make the 
same, together with the affidavit of abandonment, the basis for further proceedings, said papers to 
accompany the case when sent to the General Land Office. Should the entry be finally canceled, the 
contestant can perfect his entry. No preference right to enter will be allowed unless application is 
made at date of instituting contest. 

13. Each and every homestead settler, at any time after the end of the third year of his or her 
residence, who, in addition to the settlement and improvements required by the homestead laws, shall have 
had under cultivation for two years one acre of timber (the trees thereon being not more than twelve feet 
ajiart each way, and in a good thrifty condition) for each and every sixteen acres of said homestead, shall, 
upon due proof of such fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or her patent for said homestead ; 

14. No land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfac- 
tion of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of final certificate therefor; 

15. The fees for all entries under this act shall be ten dollars, and the commission of registers and 
receivers on all entries (irrespective of area) shall be four dollars (two dollars to each) at the date of 
entry, and a like sum at the date of final proof; 

16. No distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and commissions, between minimum and 
double minimum lands; a party may enter 160 acres of either on payment of the prescribed fee and 
commissions; 

17. The fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act to punish crimes against the 
United States, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1857, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and 
affidavits required or authorized by this act; 



14 

Is. Parties who may have already made entries under the timber-culture act of March 3, Is73, of 
which this is amendatory, shall be permitted to continue and complete the same in the manner and under 
the conditions prescribed by this act. 

33. Pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the following regulations will be observed, viz: 

First. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to one quarter section only in 
each section, as was form rly done, but may allow entries to be male of subdivisions of different quarter 
ions; provided that each entry shall form a compact body, not exceeding one hundred and sixtv acres, 
and that not more than that quantity shall be entered iu anyone section. Before allowing any entry 
applied for, they will, by a careful examination of the plat and tract-books with reference to any previous 
entry or entries within the limits of the -mi ■ - iction, satisfy themselves that the desired entry is admissible 
under this rule. 

S ■ >H'l. In the case of an application for a fractional subdivision containing less than forty acres, they 
will require the applicant to state in his affidavit that he has, or has not, as the case may be, made a prc- 
vious entry of a similar fractional subdivision. If he shall have made one or more such previous entries, 
they will require him to exhibit his duplicate receipts or patents therefor, and will note the same, by number, 

acres, district, and description of the land, upon the application presented, thus: "Previous entry No. , 

[Description,'] act.-, District." 

Third. W hen they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for is properly subject to such 
entry, they will require the party to make affidavit, (form No. 33,) and to pay the fee and that part of the 
commissions payable at the date of entry, and the receiver will Issue his receipt therefor, form No. 34, in 
duplicate, giving the party a duplicate receipt. They will number the entry in its order, in a separate 
series of numbers, unless they have already a series under the act of March 3, 1873, to which this act is 
amendatory, in which case they will number the entry as one of that series; they will note the entry on 
their records, and report it in their monthly returns, sending up all the papers therein, with an abstract of 
the entries allowed during the month under this act. 

/ mrth. The tie- and commissions in this class of entries the receiver will account for in the usual 
manner, indicating the -am ind commissions on timber-culture entries, which will be charged against 

the maximum of $3,000 now allowed by law. 

Fifth. When a homestead party chums a patent for his homestead entry under the fourth section of 
this a.t, the register and receiver will require him to make affidavit, according to form No. 35, and proof, 
according to form Nb. 36, which must -how that he has resided upon and cultivated the tract for not less 
than three years, in addition to the fact- that the land is prairie in character, and that he has cultivated 
timber thereon, as required to bring the case within the provisions of said fourth section. This being done, 
and the proper commissions paid, the receiver will issue his receipt for the money, and the register his final 
certificate for the entry, i form No. 37,) the papers to be numbered in the regular final homestead series. 

- '//. In all cases under this act it will !»• required that trees shall be cultivated which shall be of 
the class included in the term "timber," the cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. 

3 t. The foregoing has reference to public land- which are agricultural in character. There are special 
law- for the disposal of desert lands, salim lands, and town-sites on the public il<>iii<ti». 

DESERT LANDS. 

By desert land- i- meant a class of lamb which will not, without irrigation, produce any agricultural 
crop. Title to such lands in any of the following States and Territories may be acquired under the act of 
< iongress of March :;, 1*77, copy attached, No. 38, viz: the States <;/' California, Oregon, and Nevada, and 
the Territories of Washington, I<l<ih<>, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. Any 
party desiring to avail himself thereof must file with the register and receiver of the proper district land 
office a declaration in form prescribed, No. 39, which must be under oath, and maybe executed before either 
the register or receiver, or the clerk of any court of record having a seal. It must set forth that the appli- 



15 

cant is a citizen of the United States, or that he has declared his intention to become such, in which case a 
duly certified copy of his declaration of intentions to become a citizen must be presented and filed. It 
must also be set up that the applicant has made no other declaration for desert lands under the provisions 
of this act, and that he intends to reclaim the tract of land applied for, not exceeding one section, by con- 
ducting water thereon within three years from the date of his declaration. The declaration must also 
contain a description of the land applied for, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, or, if unsurveyed, as nearly 
as possible without a survey by giving with as much clearness and precision as possible the locality of the 
tract with reference to known and conspicuous landmarks or the established lines of survey, so as to admit 
of its being thereafter readily identified when the lines of survey come to be extended. 

As preliminary to the filing of such declaration, it must be satisfactorily shown that the land therein 
described is desert bind as defined in the second section of the act. To this end, the testimony of at least 
two disinterested and credible witnesses is required, whose testimony will be reduced to writing in the usual 
manner; or the evidence maybe furnished in the form of affidavits executed before the clerk of any court 
of record having a seal, the credibility of the witnesses to be certified by said clerk. The witnesses must 
clearly state their acquaintance with the premises, and the facts as to the condition and situation of the land 
upon which they base their judgment. A form of affidavit, to be sworn to and subscribed by each witness, 
is attached, No. 40. After this proof has been made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver 
will receive from the applicant the sum of twenty-five cents per acre for the land applied for; the register 
will receive and file his declaration, and they will jointly issue, in duplicate, a certificate in the form 
attached, No. 41. One of these duplicates will be delivered to the applicant. The other will be retained by 
the register and receiver with the declaration and proof. They will bear a number according to the order 
in which the certificate was issued. The register will keep a record of the certificates issued, showing the 
number, date, amount paid, name of applicant, and description of the land applied for in each case, and, in 
addition, he will note the same upon Iris plate and records as in cases of ordinary entry. At the end of 
each month he will, with his regular returns, forward to this office an abstract of the declarations filed and 
certificates issued under this act during the month, accompanying same with the declarations and proofs 
filed and the retained copy of certificate in each case. The receiver will also account for the money received 
under this act in the usual form. At any time within three years after the date of filing the declaration 
and the issue of certificate, the proper party may make satisfactory proof of having conducted water upon 
the land applied for. This proof must consist of the testimony of at least two disinterested and credible 
witnesses, who must appear in person before the register and receiver. They must declare that they have 
personal knowledge of the condition of the land applied for, and of the facts to which they testify; and 
their testimony must be reduced to writing in the usual manner. The party must also present and surren- 
der the duplicate certificate issued when the declaration was filed. When this is done, and the final proof 
made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive the additional payment of one dollar 
per acre, receipt therefor in duplicate in the usual manner, writing upon the face of the receijtt a 
reference to this act, and give the party a duplicate receipt. The register will also issue a final certificate of 
purchase in the ordinary form of cash certificates, noting upon the face of the certificate a reference to 
this act. You will give to these final certificates and receipts a special series of numbers, and will make 
separate abstracts of same at the end of each month, sending up therewith the final certificates, receipts, and 
proofs. 

In cases where declarations shall be filed under this act for unsurveyed lands, the register and receiver 
will immediately forward copies of the declarations to the surveyor general, in order that the proper surveys 
may be made. 

SALINE LANDS. 

The act of Congress of January 12, 1877, copy attached, No. 42, provides a mode of proceeding by 
which public lands indicated by the field-notes of survey, or otherwise, to be saline in character may be 
rendered subject to disposal. 



16 

Should prima fame evidence that certain tracts are saline in character be filed with the register and 
receiver of the proper land district, they will designate a time for a hearing at their office, and give notice 
t ' all parties in interest in order that they may have ample opportunity to be present with their witnesses. 

At the hearing, the witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard to the true character of the 
land, and whether the same contains any known mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other 
valuable mineral deposit, or any deposit of coal. 

The witnesses will also be examined in regard to the extent of the saline deposits upon the given tracts, 
and whether the same are claimed l>y any person; if so, the names of the claimants, and the extent of their 
improvements niu-t he shown. 

The testimony should also show the agricultural capacities of the land, what kind of crops, if any, 
have been raised thereon, and the value thereof. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible, 
and in addition to the leading points indicated above, everything of importance bearing upon the question 
of the character of the land should be elicited at the hearing. 

The register and receiver will transmit the testimony to this office with their joint opinion thereon. 
When the case comes before this office Buch a decision will be rendered in regard to the character of the 
land a- the law and the facts may warrant. 

Should the given tracts be adjudged agricultural, they will he subject to disposal as such. Should the 
traits be adjudged aaUne lands, the register and receiver will be instructed to offer the same for sale, after 
pnblk notice at the local land office of the district in which the same shall he situated, and to sell said tract 
or tracts to the highest bidder for cash, at a price of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 

In case -aid lands fail to sell when so offered, the same will be subject to private sale at such land office, 
for cash, at a price of not le-s t Ikui one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as other 
pnblk land- arc -.Id, and already indicated herein. See pages 1 and 2. 

The provisions of this act do not apply to any lands within the Territories, nor to the lauds within 
the State of ( iolorado until the grant to said State of salines has bceu fully satisfied or the right of selection 
h:is expired by efflux of time. 

TOWX BITES. 

Tin- eighth chapter of the Revised Statute- of the United States, comprising sections 2380 to 2393, and 
act of Congress of March •"., IsTT, copies attached, Nos. 43 and 41, provide for the disposal of town sites 
on the public domain. 

There an- two methods by which title to such town property may be acquired, subject to the election 
of parties desiring to do so: one provided for in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385, and the other in 
- tions 2387, 2388, and 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. The first method limits the 

Dt of the ana of the city or town to (i K) acres, to he laid off into lots, and which, after filing in the 
( i neral band < Mfice the transcript, statement, ami testimony required by section 2382, are to be offered at 
public -ale, to the highest bidder, at a minimum of ten dollars for each lot. Lots not thus disposed of are 
made thereafter liable to private entry at -aid minimum, or at such reasonable price as the Secretary of the 
Interior may order from time to time, a- the municipal property may increase or decrease, after at least 
three- months' notice. 

A privilege, however, is granted to any actual settler upon any one lot of pre-empting that, and any 
additional lot 011 which he may have "substantial improvements," at said minimum, at any time before the 
day fixed for the public sale. 

There are, however, certain preliminary conditions to be complied with in order to the enjoyment of 
tlie privileges granted in this section. Parties who have already founded or may hereafter found a city or 
town are required — 

1-t. To file with the recorder of the county in which the town or city Ls situate a plat thereof, not 
exceeding 640 acres, describing it- exterior boundaries according to the lines of the public surveys, where 
such surveys have been executed. 



17 

2d. Also the plat or map of such city or town mast exhibit the name of the city or town, the streets, 
squares, blocks, lots, and alleys; the size of the same, with measurements and area of eacli municipal sub- 
division, the lots in which shall each not exceed 4,200 square feet, with a statement of the extent and 
general character of improvements. 

3d. Further, the said map and statement to be verified by oath by the party acting for and in the 
behalf of the founders of the city or town. 

4th. Within one month after filing the map or plat with the recorder of the county, a verified copy 
of said map and statement is to be sent to the General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two 
witnesses that such city or town has been established in good faith. 

5th. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land district, a similar copy of the 
map and statement must be filed with the register and receiver. 

Section 2383 provides for cities or towns founded on unsurveyed land, and directs that it may be 
lawful to adjust the exterior limits of the premises with the lines of the public surveys, where it can be 
done without impairing the rights of others. It also provides for the issue of patents for lots disposed of 
under these provisions as in ordinary eases. 

Section 2384 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in case the parties interested shall fail or refuse, 
within twelve months of the founding of a city or town on the public domain, to file in the General Land 
Office a copy of the map with the statement and testimony called for by section 2382, to cause a survey 
and plat to be made of the said city or town, and thereafter the lots to be sold as provided, at an increase 
of fifty per cent, on the minimum price of ten dollars per lot. 

Sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 grant to the inhabitants of cities and towns on the public lands the 
privilege of entering the lands occupied as town sites at the minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, through the corporate authorities of such towns and cities, or the judges of the county 
courts acting as trustees for the occupants thereof. 

This privilege is granted where such mode of obtaining title to town property is preferred to that 
provided in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385, which are not repealed by the former sections. The 
inhabitants of these towns or cities are limited, however, to one or the other of the modes provided in these 
statutes, and cannot commence proceedings under both systems. 

The provisions of sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 were originally embodied in the acts of Con- 
gress of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865; those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 in the act of March 2, 
1867. Section 2394 is a re-enactment of the act of June 8, 1868. It has reference to cases where the 
inhabitants of cities or towns proceeded to act under the provisions of the acts of July 1, 1864, and 
March 3, 1865, prior to June 22, 1874, the date of the Revised Statutes, and in which they have partly 
proved up and paid for the lots claimed by them according to said acts. It provides for extending 
the privilege of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, if the town authorities in any such case should elect 
to proceed under them, to such of the inhabitants as may not have paid for their lots, without inter- 
fering with the issuing of patents to those who had made or might make entries or elect to proceed 
under the acts of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865, or sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 of the 
Revised Statutes. Accordingly, should any case be presented where proceedings had been commenced, 
as aforesaid, by the inhabitants of any town or city before the date indicated, and a part of them, 
not having entered and paid for their lots, desire to take advantage of the other system referred 
to, they would be entitled, under section 2394, on application to the register and receiver of the proper 
district office, through the town authorities, pursuant to the provisions of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, 
to enter or file upon such portion of the town site as has not already been entered and paid for, and is not 
in possession of parties electing to complete their titles under the original proceedings; after which, that 
part of the town site so entered or filed upon will be disposed of under the last-mentioned sections, and the 
remaining portion, if any, under sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385. Section 2394 has no reference to 
any case in which proceedings for acquiring title to the town site were commenced subsequent to June 22, 

3 



18 

187 I. the inhabitants in all such cases being restricted to the method of acquiring title according to which 
they may have commenced to act. 

- ri,,n 2394 further provides that in addition to the minimum price of the lands included in any 
town sits entered under its provisions and those of sections 2-".S7, 2388, and 2389, there shall be paid by 
the parties availing themselves thereof' all costs of surveying and platting any such town site, and expenses 
incident thereto, incurred by the United States, before any patent therefor shall issue. Hence, when it is 
desired to enter a town site found upon the vmwrveyed public lands, a written application should be pre- 
sented to the surveyor general of the proper district for a survey of the same, under section 2401, of the 
Revised Statutes, and the amount estimated by him as sufficient to cover the said cost and expenses deposited 
with any assistant United States treasurer or designated depositary in favor of the United States Treasurer, 
to Im' passed to the credit of the fund created by "Individual Depositors for the Survey of the Public 
Lamb, "the depositor taking a duplicate certificate of deposit, one to be filed with the surveyor general to be 
sent to the < reneral Land ( Hfioe, and the other retained by the depositor. On receiving such certificate, show- 
ing that the requisite sum has been deposited in a proper manner to pay for the work, the surveyor general 
will transmit to the register and receiver of the district land office his certificate of such payment having 
been made, and will contract with a competent United States deputy surveyor, and have the survey made 
and returned in the same manner as other public surveys, after which the lands embraced within the site 
may l«' entered, or filed upon, as in the case of town sites upon surveyed lands. 

Winn town rites ate located upon land already surveyed, the entry must be made in conformity to the 
legal subdivisions of tin- public lands, and here no costs in regard to past surveys will be exacted. When 
- are upon wuurveyod land, it will be necessary, after the extension thereto of the public surveys, to 
dose those line- upon the exterior limits of the town site. 

2389, it will !><• observed, stipulates that there shall be conceded, where the number of inhab- 
itants i- one hundred and leas than two hundred, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres; where 
the population i- more than two hundred ami Less than one thousand, not exceeding six hundred and forty 
-; and where the inhabitants Dumber one thousand and over, not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty 
acres ; and for each additional one thousand inhabitants, uot exceeding live thousand in all, a further grant 
of three hundred ami twenty acres. 

All military and other reservations of the United Slates, private grants, and valid mining claims, are 

excluded from the operati f these town-site laws. In patents issued thereunder it is expressly declared 

as follow-, vi/: " No title -hall be hereby acquired to any mine of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper, or any 
valid mining claim or possession held under existing law- of Congress." [Section 2-'!!)2, R. S.] 

In any Territory in which a land office may not have been established, the declaratory statements 
provided for in the foregoing statutes may lie filed with the surveyor general of the proper district. 

In the act of i ongrese of March .;, l s 7 7 , section 1 restricts (he amount of land that can be reserved 
from pre-emption and homestead entry, by reason of the existence or incorporation of a town upon the 
public domain, to 2,560 acres, unless the excess shall "be actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, and 
osed for business and municipal purposes." 

9 tion 2 confirm- pre-emption and homestead entries already made within the corporate limits of a 
town, the entries being tegular in all respects, provided, it shall be satisfactorily shown that the lands so 
entered are "not settled upon or used for any municipal purpose, nor devoted to any public use of such 
town." 

- ■'ion ■': provides: Thai when it shall appear that the corporate limits of a town embrace lauds in 
excess of the maximum quantity allowed, the proper authorities may select those portions that are actually 
occupied, Deed, and improved for municipal purposes, which lands shall be reserved from pre-emption and 
h om est e ad entry, and the residue will be restored, or become subject to such settlement and entry. This 
Belection must be made within sixty days from notice, and in default thereof, a hearing will be ordered and 



19 

testimony taken as to the condition of the land, and such portion set apart as shall appear to be within the 
meaning of the act. 

The 4th section, with the proviso to the 2d section, provides for additional entries by towns, where 
entries have already been made, in cases in which an increase in the number of inhabitants would entitle 
them to an entry of a larger area, under section 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, such 
entries, however, to be within the maximum amount, or 2,560 acres. 

PRESENTATION OF APPEALS. 

35. Any jierson making application to file upon or enter a tract of public land, having complied with 
the law and regulations touching the presentation of such applications, and feeling aggrieved by the refusal 
of the register and receiver to recognize his claim, or by any order, direction, or condition affecting the 
same, may appeal from the action of those officers to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who 
is by law invested with the supervision and control of all matters relating to the disposal of the public 
lands, subject to the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. (Revised Statutes, sees. 453 and 2478.) 

For the purpose of enabling such appeal to be taken and perfected, the register and receiver will 
indorse upon the written application the date when presented and their reasons for refusing it, promptly 
advising the party in interest of the facts, and note upon their records a memorandum of the transaction. 
The party aggrieved will then be allowed thirty days from the receipt of notice of such action within 
which to file his appeal to the Commissioner. 

" The appeal should be in writing, and should set forth in brief and clear terms the specific points of 
exception to the ruling appealed from. It must in all cases be filed with the district officers, to be forwarded 
by them with a full report of the case to this office. 

This report should recite the proceedings had, to wit: The application and rejection, with the reasons 
therefor, and also the status of the tract involved, as shown by the records of the office, together with a 
reference to all entries, fibngs, annotations, memoranda, and correspondence shown by such record, relating 
thereto, so as to direct the attention of the Commissioner to all the material facts and issues necessary to a 
proper determination of the questions presented. 

No appeal from the decision of the register and receiver will be received at the General Land Office 
unless forwarded through the local officers in the manner herein jirescribed. 

The report should be forwarded at once upon the filing of the ajjpeal, excejtt in contested cases after 
regular hearing, when, unless all parties request its earlier transmission, it should not be made until the 
expiration of the thirty days included in the notice, in order that all parties may have full opportunity to 
examine the record and prepare their argument upon the questions at issue. All documents once received 
must be kept on file with the cases, and no papers will be allowed under any circumstances to be removed 
from such files or taken from the custody of the register and receiver; but access to the same under 
proper rules, so as not to interfere with necessary public business, should be j>ermitted to the parties in 
interest under the supervision of those officers. 

Upon any question relating to the disposal of the public lands, appeal from the decision of the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office will lie to the Secretary of the Interior, (Revised Statutes, sees. 
441, 2273,) except in cases of interlocutory orders and decisions, and orders for hearing, or other matters 
resting in the sound discretion of the Commissioner. Such latter cases constitute matters of exception, 
which should be noted, and they will be considered by the Secretary on review. 

The appeal is required to be made in writing, fairly and specifically stating the points of exception to 
the decision appealed from, and must be filed either with the register and receiver for transmission, or 
with the Commissioner, within sixty days from receipt, by the party or his attorney, of the notice of the 
decision. 

After appeal is filed, the fact of its receipt and pendency will be promptly communicated to the district 
office and to the parties, and thirty days from service of such notice will be allowed for the filing of argu- 



20 

UtenI oo tlic points involved in the controversy. At the expiration of the time prescribed, the papers and 
record will be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior. A.11 arguments shall be filed with the Commissioner 

within the time specified in the notice, in order that they may he referred to and considered in transmitting 
the case to the Secretary, if deemed expedient by the Commissioner. Examination of cases on appeal to 
the Secretary will he facilitated by filing in printed form such argument as it is desired to have considered. 

Dec&ons of the Commissioner not appealed from within the period prescribed become final, and the 
will be regularly dosed, i Revised Statutes, sec. 227.3.) 

The division of the Secretary is necessarily final, so far as respects the action of the Executive. 

REGISTERS' AND RECEIVERS' RETURNS. 

36. Within three days from the close of each month, the district land officers are required to make 
out and transmit to the I icncral Land < Mlice a statement of the business of their respective offices for the 
preceding month. 

These report- are in the form of abstracts of pre-emption declarations and of soldiers' declarations 
filed, abstracts of lands sold, abstracts of homesteads entered, abstracts of timber-culture entries allowed, 
ab-tract- of military bounty land warrants and of agricultural-college scrip located, accompanied by the cer- 
tificates of purchase, receivers' receipts, homestead and timber-culture applications and affidavits, military 
bounty land warrants and agricultural-college scrip surrendered as satisfied, and the certificates of location 

thereof. 

Name- of parties must be clearly and legibly written in these papers to correspond with the signature 
to every application; and when spelled in two or more ways, or illegibly written by the person signing, 
the register musl ascertain by proper inquiry the correct orthography and certify to the same upon the 
margin of the certificate. 

fhe abstracts, after being carefully examined by the register and receiver, are to be certified by them 
a- correct, and a.- in conformity with the papers in the entries or locations embraced therein, and with their 
records, which paper-, abstracts, and records musl agree with each other. 

'fhe receiver is required also to render promptly a monthly account of all the moneys received, showing 
the balance due the ( lovernmenl at the close of each month. 

At the end of every quarter, he must also transmit a quarter/// account as receiver; upon the several 
accounts an adjustment is here made, and submitted to the Treasury Department, for final settlement. 

If must also render a quarterly disbursing account of till moneys expended. 

The receiver is required to deposit the moneys received by him, at some depository designated by the 
9 retary of the Treasury, when the amount on hand shall have reached the sum of one thousand dollars; 
and in -i-e i- he authorized, without special instructions, to hold a larger amount in his hands. 

::7. It i- the duty of the registers and receivers to be in attendance at their offices, and give proper 
facilities and information to persons applying for lands. 

A li-t of all the district land offices in the United States is hereto annexed. 

39. Law- and instructions relating to mining claims form the subject of a separate circular. Lands 
bearing "gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits" are not subject to disposal 
under the homestead and pre-emption law-. 

10. Registers and receiv* re of the land offices are not authorized by law to make any charge for their 
services in accepting or entering pre-emption or homestead claims, other than such as are herein set forth. 

11. By section 2212 of the Revised Statutes it is, among other things, provided that upon satisfactory 
proof that either of said officers ha- charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized by law, 
In- -hall forthwith In- removed from office. 

J. A. WILLIAMSON, 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



21 



[No. I.-] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 2. 

REGISTERS AXD RECEIVERS. 

Sectiox 2234. There shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice Appointment of 

. 'ill** i > t> i t registersandreceivers. 

and consent of the Senate, a register of the land-office and a receiver of public moneys, — 

7 ° l j ? g ee a jj ac ( s es t aD . 

for each land-district established by law. lis,,ic s iai«i-districts. 

Sec. 2235. Every register and receiver shall reside at the place where the land-office Residence of regis- 

f, i.ii. • * i • t lii ii * er au( ^ receiver. 

tor which he is appointed is directed by law to be kept. see aii acts estau- 

n -r-< • n • inip ■ l 1 • p l • Ashing land-districts. 

Sec. 2236. Every register and receiver shall, before entering on the duties of his Bond of register and 

office, give bond in the penal sum of ton thousand dollars, with approved security, for the u , Mayi JbuU| c- ^ 

faithful discharge of his trust. ^arch^iss™. i45 7 ,s'. 

Sec. 2237. Every register and receiver shall be allowed an annual salary of five hun- ' salaries of register 

dn i 1 1 and receiver. 

red dollars. ; — 

30 May, 181)2, c. 86, s. 
6, v. IS, p. 409. 20 
April, 1818, c. 123, v. 3, 
p. 46R. 

Sec. 2238. Registers and receivers, in addition to their salaries, shall be allowed each Fees and commis- 

,i p 11 - n i .. i sions of register and 

the following fees and commissions, namely : receiver. 

First. A fee of one dollar for each declaratory statement filed, and for services in ia, T . ffpMse^ai toar!; 

, . 1864, c. 38, s. 4, v. 13, p! 

acting on pre-emption claims. 35. 

Second. A commission of one per centum on all moneys received at each receiver's 20 April, i8i8,c. 123, 

n~ v. 3, p. 466. 

office. 

Third. A commission to be paid by the homestead applicant, at the time of entry, of 21 Marcb,i864,c.38, 

one per centum on the cash price, as fixed by law, of the land applied for; and a like ' 20 May, iki, c. 75,s. 

commission when the claim is finally established, and the certificate therefor issued as the 'lsjuij, i870,c.294, 

J s. 25, v. 16, p. 320. 



basis of a patent. 

Fourth. The same commission on lands entered under any law to encourage the growth 3 March, 1873, c.277, 
of timber on western prairies, as allowed when the like quantity of land is entered with r 
money. 

Fifth. For locating military bounty-land warrants issued since the eleventh day of 22 March. 1852, c.19, 
February, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and for locating agricultural college land-scrip, ' 2 July, 1862, c. 130, 
the same commission, to be paid by the holder or assignee of each warrant or scrip, as is 
allowed for sales of the public lands for cash, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre. 

Sixth. A fee, in donation cases, of five dollars for each final certificate for one hundred 30 May, 1862, c.86, 

8. 6 v. 12 p. 409. 

and sixty acres of land ; ten dollars for three hundred and twenty acres ; and fifteen dollars 
for six hundred and forty acres. 

Seventh. In the location of lands by States and corporations under grants from Congress 1 j u i y , 1864, c. 196, 
for railroads and other purposes, (except for agricultural colleges,) a fee of one dollar for 
each final location of one hundred and sixty acres; to be paid by the State or corporation 
making such location. 

Eighth. A fee of five dollars per diem for superintending public-land sales at their 24 April, 1820, c. 51, 
respective offices ; and, to each receiver, mileage in going to and returning from depositing 
the public moneys received by him. 



8. i , v. 13, p. 335. 



22 

io May. is?-:, o. ik, Ninth. A fee of five dollars for filing and acting upon each application for patent or 

adverse claim filed for mineral lands, to l>e paid by the respective parties. 

Tenth. Registers and receivers are allowed, jointly, at the rate of fifteen cents per hun- 
dred \vi mis for testimony reduced by them to writing for claimants, in establishing pre- 
emption and homestead rights. 
to if «r, 1679,0.159, Eleventh. Alike fee as provided in the preceding subdivision when such writing is 

done in the land-office, in establishing claims for mineral lands. 

Twelfth. Registers and receivers in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colo- 
£tabHah- railo, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, are each entitled to 
Utah, Wyoming-, ud collect and receive fifty per centum on the fees and commissions provided for in the first, 
third, and tenth subdivisions of this section. 

SBC. 2239. The register for any consolidated land-district, in addition to the fees now 

"n ill iiii • l l *i l • n l • • /» • t ■ l 

.luted biii :• allowed by law. shall be entitled to charge and receive tor making transcripts tor individ- 

uals, or furnishing any other record information respecting public lands or land-titles in 

131. . ,. . . . . 

his consolidated land-district, such i'ws as are properly authorized by the tariff existing in 
the local courts of his district; and the receiver shall receive his equal share of such fees, 
and it shall be hi- duty to aid the register in the preparation of the transcripts, or giving 
the desired record information. 

Sec. 2240. The compensation of registers and receivers, including salary, fees, and 

.... i • i ii iin i 

commissions, shall in no case exceed in the aggregate three thousand dollars a year, each: 

i i ii • i- v ±- i i " n 

and no register or receiver shall receive lor any one quarter or fractional quarter more than 

ii i 

pro-rata allowance ot such maximum. 

Uulv. 

- 

c lli, •. :i r. i». p. 4 

-.' Julv. It 

.,„,.,■„. - . 2241. Whenever the amount of compensation received at any land-office exceeds 

the maximum allowed by law to any register or receiver, the excess shall be paid into the 

•i- .i ii- 

,.,,,. - treasury, as other public moneys. 

, 2242. No register or receiver shall receive any compensation out of the Treasury 
■ for past services who has charged orreceived illegal \\-i^\ and, on satisfactory proof that 
either of bucL officers has charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized bylaw, 
lie -hall be forthwith removed from office. 

,„ „ t - . ■_"J|.;. The compensati if registers and receivers, both for salary and commis- 

-ions, shall commence and be calculated from the time they, respectively, enter on the 
discharge of their duties. 

Sec. 2244. All registers and receivers shall be appointed for the term of four years, 

r*. iiii ii i 

15 May, 1890, c. 109, "lit shall lie removalili' at plea-lire. 

, liir Sec. 2245. The receivers shall make to the Secretary of the Treasury monthly returns 

of the moneys received in their several offices, and pay over such money pursuant to his 
instructions. And they shall also make to the Commissioner <>f the General Land Office 
like monthly returns, and transmit to him quarterly accounts-current of the debits and 
credit- of their several offices with the United States. 

oath. D.imi- Sb . 2246. I'hc register or receiver is authorized, and it shall be their duty, to admin- 

ceivert. 

tion with the entry or purchase of any tract of the public lands; but he shall not charge 
or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation for administering such oath. 



i-ter any oath required by law or the instructions of the General Land-Office, in connec- 



23 

Sec. 2247. If any person applies to any register to enter any land whatever, and the ^Penalty fo^faise in 

register knowingly and falsely informs the person so applying that the same has already 4 July ]836 c 35a s 

been entered, and refuses to permit the person so applying to enter the same, such register is, v. 5, P . 112. 
shall be liable therefor to the person so applying, for five dollars for each acre of land 
which the person so applying offered to enter, to be recovered by action of debt in any 

court of record having jurisdiction of the amount. 

********* 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 4. 

Pre-emptions. 

Sec. 2257. All lands belonging to the United States, to which the Indian title has Lands subject to 

. -1 /» . -1 pre emption. 

been or may hereafter be extinguished, shall be subject to the right of pre-emption, under -— — — — 

J ° J 2 June, 1862, c. 94, 

the conditions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by law. s - l . v - 12 > p- 4i3. 

Sec. 2258. The following classes of lands, unless otherwise specially provided for Lands not subject to 

° . pre-emption. 

by law, shall not be subject to the rights of pre-emption, to-wit : 4 s )g41 o 16 

First. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or proclamation of the S L 1U > y - 5 .P- 455 - 

President, for any purpose. 

Second. Lands included within the limits of any incorporated town, or selected as the wiicoxm.jackson, 

■'■»■' 13 Pet., 498 ; Josephs 

site of a citv or town. »*• u. s., 1 n. and h., 

. 197; Turner vs. 

Third. Lands actuallv settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business, and American Baptist 

J 111 Union, 5 McLean, 344 ; 

not for agriculture. 5'- J s -„" s -„£ a l lroad 

o BridgeCo., 6 McLean, 

Fourth. Lands on which are situated any known salines or mines. g 7 ; RusseiiDs.BeeVe, 

Hemps., 704. 

Sec. 2259. Every person, being the head of a family, or widow, or single person, Persons entitled to 

. • n tt i o l ' £1 1 pre-emption. 

over the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen ot the United states, or having filed a 4 s t __ lg41 c 16 

declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laM'S, who has s - ' "■ Y - 5 ' p - 4 -' 5 - 

t -t . i i t l -i i • x- U. S. us. Fitzgerald. 

made, or hereafter makes, a settlement m person on the public lands subject to pre-emption, is Pet., 407; Lytieus, 

-.,.,,. t . , nil t in -i iv Arkansas, 9 How., 333; 

and who inhabits and improves the same, and who has erected or snail erect a dwelling Cunningham vs. Ast- 

thereon, is authorized to enter with the register of the land-office for the district in which Barnard's Heirs vs. 

... r. ,. i-i-ii Ash,e 3' s Heir S' !8 

such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and How., 41 ; Garland™. 

' J ° . . . . Wynn, 20 How., 6; 

sixty, or a quarter section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon paying Hart "gpjj -,y- n ? er " 

to the United States the minimum price of such land. ^°™ ™ g Drnwan, 4 

Sec. 2260. The following classes of persons, unless otherwise specially provided for persons not entitled 

by law, shall not acquire any right of pre-emption under the provisions of the j)receding : 

sections, to wit : 8.10,^.5,5.455.' 

First. JSTo person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty acres of land 
in any State or Territory. 

Second. No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own land to reside on 
the public land in the same State or Territory. 

Sec. 2261. No person shall be entitled to more than one pre-emptive right by virtue Limitation of pre- 
of the provisions of section twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine ; nor Avhere a party has 

,,,.,,. . 4 Sept., 1841,c. 16,s. 

filed his declaration of intention to claim the benefits of such provisions, for one tract of 10 , T - 5 , p- 455 - 

1 ' 3 March, 1843, e. 86, 

land, shall he file, at any future time, a second declaration for another tract. s - 4 > T - 5 > p- 6ao - 

Sec. 2262. Before any person claiming the benefit of this chapter is allowed to enter 0ath of pre-emp- 

J *■ ,° . L tionist, where filed, 

lands, he shall make oath before the receiver or register of the land-district in which the P e ° alt y- 

land is situated that he has never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under section 13 4 T S 5 Pt '455 J ' c ' 16 ' s " 
twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine ; that he is not the owner of three hundred and twenty 



24 

acres of land in any State or Territory; that he has not settled upon and improved such 
land ti> sell the same on speculation, hut in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclusive 
use; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any 
way or manner, with any person whatever, by which the title which lie might acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit 
of any person except himself] and if any person taking such oath swears falsely in the 
premises, he shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for such land, and all right 
and title to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in 
the hands of bpna-fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void, 
except as provided in section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight. And it shall be the 
duty of the officer administering such oath to tile a certificate thereof in the public land- 
office of such district, and to transmit a duplicate copy to the General Land-Office, either 
of which -hall he good and sufficient evidence that such oath was administered according 
to law. 

SE( . 2263. Prior to any entries being made under and by virtue of the provisions of 

section twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine, proof of the settlement and improvement 

' thereby required -hall he made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land- 

; district in which Buch land- lies, agreeably to such rules as may be prescribed by the Secre- 

,' tary of the Interior; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby secured, prior 

bo i 1m- issuing of the patent, shall be null and void, 
i 

Hurkueu rt. I'nder- 
hill. I HI ,3»; l.in.l- 
i Bl 

V>4 ; M ■ ■ 
13 Wall 

Si < . 226 I. When any person settles or improves a tract of land subject at the time 

■ r rt illi intent * B 

nf settlement to private entry, and intends to purchase the same under the preceding pro- 
\i-ie.n- of tin- chapter, he shall, within thirty days after the date of such settlement, file 
mi,«.i«,l „;,[, the register of the proper district a written statement, describing the land settled upon, 
and declaring his intention to claim the same under the pre-emption laws ; and he shall, 
moreover, w illiin twelve months after the date of such settlement, make the proof, affidavit, 
and payment hereinbefore required. If he fails to file such written statement, or to make 
-uch affidavit, proof, and payment within the several periods named above, the tract of land 
-., -ettled and improved -hall he subject to the entry of any other purchaser. 

S» . 2265. Every claimant under the pre-emption law for land not yet proclaimed for 

sale i- required to make known his claim in writing to the register of the proper land- 

•■-'■• office within three months from the time of the settlement, giving the designation of the 

tract and the time of settlement ; otherwise his claim shall he forfeited and the tract 

J..hn->.ii m. Tau ' 

i.), i:j Wail. awarded to the next settler, in the order of time, on the same tract of land, who has given 

such notice anil otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 

Sec. 2266. In regard to settlements which are authorized upon unsurveyed lands, 

merit or MMtlere on un- . . , . . . . . . . 

•umyed lannv, whi-ii the pre-emption claimant shall I >c in all eases required to file Ins declaratory statement 
within three months from the date of the receipt at the district land-office of the approved 
7, t. ia, p. 4ni. plat of the township embracing such pre-emption settlement. 

.ii.ii,,. SEC. 2267. All claimants of pre-emption rights, under the two preceding sections, 

'i.r,».'r a ,„i ,«'ym-nt. shall, when do shorter time is prescribed by law, make the proper proof and payment for 

ujoijr, ii,,. i; m d claimed within thirty months after the date prescribed therein, respectively, for 

• , & 279. 3 * > i j i 

Re«.«,Y. tiling their declaratory notice-, has expired. 



25 

Sec. 2268. Where a pre-emptor has taken the initiatory steps required by law in J!^^™,^*™^ 
regard- to actual settlement, and is called away from such settlement by being engaged in ™ r ^ ,aryand naral 
the military or naval service of the United States, and by reason of such absence is unable 2 iMarch.i8is4,c.38, 
to appear at the district land-office to make before the register or receiver the affidavit, s-5,v.i3, P .35. 
proof, and payment, respectively, required by the preceding provisions of this chapter, the 
time for filing such affidavit and making final proof and entry or location shall be extended 
six months after the expiration of his term of service, upon satisfactory proof by affidavit, 
or the testimony of witnesses, that such pre-emptor is so in the service, being filed with 
the register of the land-office for the district in which his settlement is made. 

Sec. 2269. Where a partv entitled to claim the benefits of the pre-emption laws dies Death before con- 

i *■ *• summating; claim; who 

before consummating his claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential to the estab- to complete, &c. 
lishment of the same, it shall be competent for the executor or administrator of the estate s | ^^y' 3 ' "• 86 ' 
of such part}-, or one of his heirs, to file the necessary papers to complete the same; but 
the entry in such cases shall be made in favor of the heirs of the deceased pre-emptor, and 
a patent thereon shall cause the title to inure to such heirs, as if their names had been 
specially mentioned. 

Sec. 2270. Whenever the vacancy of the office either of register or receiver, or of Non-compiiancewith 

J ° ' laws caused by vacan- 

both, renders it impossible for the claimant to comply with any requisition of the pre- <=y in »«« ° f ot re f,j st a ^ 

emption laws within the aj>pointed time, such vacancy shall not operate to the detriment fect fcc - 

of the party claiming, in respect to any matter essential to the establishment of his claim; sJ^.^p.'eaa 3 ' ' 86 ' 
but such requisition must be complied with within the same period after the disability is 
removed as would have been allowed had such disability not existed. 

Sec. 2271. The provisions of this chapter shall be so construed as not to confer on No pre-emption of 

x lands sold but not con- 

anv one a right of pre-emption, by reason of a settlement made on a tract theretofore firmed by Land-otnce. 

disposed of, when such disposal has not been confirmed by the General Land-Office, on ^ 'f A ^|- 1842 > c - 205 > 
account of any alleged defect therein. 

Sec. 2272. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter shall be construed to preclude Purchase by private 

° x x x entry after expiration 

any person, who may have filed a notice of intention to claim any tract of land by pre- of pre-emption right. 
emption, from the right allowed by law to others to purchase such tract by private entry s j* *' g r c ^' b i\ i3 ' c ' 86 ' 
after the expiration of the right of pre-emption. 

Sec. 2273. When two or more persons settle on the same tract of land, the right of when morethan one 

-f . . settler, rights of, ap- 

pre-emption shall be in him who made the first settlement, provided such person conforms reals toComniissioner. 

to the other provision of the law; and all questions as to the right of pre-emption arising 4 Sept.,i|4i,c.i6,s. 

between different settlers shall be determined by the register and receiver of the district s jo v" n p 8 Ito? 154, 

within which the land is situated; and appeals from the decision of district officers, in Barnard vs. Aswey. 

cases of contest for the right of pre-emption, shall be made to the Commissioner of the if w°™, 4 2o ; Hm"' 

General Land-Office, whose decision shall be final, unless appeal therefrom be taken to buIs^ j&nnentau. 

.1 ci J? .lI_ T j. • Batchelder, 1 Wall., 

the Secretary 01 the Interior. ioa ; johnsom.s.Taws- 

ley, 13 Wall., 72. 

Sec. 2274. When settlements have been made upon agricultural public lands of the Settlements of two 

. . _ , or more persons on 

United States, prior to the survey thereof, and it has been or shall be ascertained, after the same subdivision be 

x •> ' ' f 0re survey. 

public surveys have been extended over such lands, that two or more settlers have 

f •> .... 3 March, 1873, c. 883, 

improvements upon the same legal subdivision, it shall be lawful for such settlers to make s. 1, v. 17, p. bo9. 
joint entry of their lands at the local land-office, or for either of said settlers to enter into 
contract with his co-settlers to convey to them their portion of said land after a patent is 
issued to him, and, after making such contract, to file a declaratory statement in his own 
name, and prove up and pay for said land, and proof of joint occupation by himself and 
others, and of such contract with them made, shall be equivalent to proof of sole occupa- 
4 



26 

tion ami pre-emption by the applicant: Provided, That in no case shall the amount 
patented under tins section exceed one hundred and sixty acres, nor shall this section 
apply to lands not subject to homestead or pre-emption entry. 
mmtg before Si i . 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre-emption, have been made before 

surrey -m sections 1'- , 

the survey of the lands in the field, which an' found to have been made on sections sixteen 

thenar. 

or thirty-six, those sections shall he subject to the pre-emption claim of such settler; and 
if they, or either of tin-in, have been or shall lie reserved or pledged for the use of schools 
or colleges in the State or Territory in which the lauds lie, other lands of like quantity are 
appropriated in lieu of such as may he patented by pre-emptors; and other lands are also 
appropriated to compensate deficiencies tor school purposes, where sections sixteen or thirtv- 
-ix are fractional in quantity, or where one or both arc wanting- by reason of the township 
being fractional, or from any natural cause whatever. 

■ 

Sir. 2276. The lands appropriated by the preceding section shall be selected, within 
the same land-district, in accordance with the following principles of adjustment, to wit : 
For each township or fractional township, containing a greater quantity of land than three- 
quarters of an entire township, one section ; for a fractional township, containing a greater 
quantity of land than one-halt', and not more than three-quarters, of a township, three- 
quarters of a M'ction ; for a fractional township, containing a greater quantity of land than 
one-quarter, and not more than one-half, of a township, one half-section; and for a frac- 
tional township, containing a greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not more 
than one-quarter of a town-hip, one quarter-section of land. 

SBC. L''_'77. All warrants for military bounty-lands, which are issued under any law 

if the United States, shall he received in payment of pre-emption rights at the rate of one 

dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, for the quantity of land therein specified ; but where 

the land is rated at one dollar and twenty-live cents per acre, and does not exceed the area 

specified in the warrant, it must be taken in full satisfaction thereof. 

cultural-college scrip, issued to any State under the act approved July 

id. eighteen hundred and ,-i \t\ -t \\ o, or acts amendatory thereof, shall be received from 

ICtual settlers in payment of pre-emption claims in the Same manner and to the same extent 
I . I I 

ithorized in case of military bounty-land warrants, by the preceding section. 

. U'JT'.t. No person shall have the right of pre-emption to more than one hundred 
and Mxtv acres alone the line of railroads within the limits granted by any act of Congress. 

.2280. Anv settler on land- heretofore reserved on account of claims under French, 

on Ian-!- -.., , i • i i i ,i /*iiiij.ici 

Spanish, or other grants, which nave been or may he hereafter declared by the supreme 

( 'onrt of the I baited State- to he invalid, .-hall be entitled to all the rights of pre-emption 

» in. i ' . 

granted by tin- preceding provisions of this chapter, after tin: lands have been released from 

reservation, in the same ma t a- if no reservation had existed. 

. 2281. All settlers on public lands which have been or may be withdrawn from 

on la for . , . , , , , , . , 

market in C sequence oi proposed railroads, and who had settled thereon prior to such 

withdrawal, shall be entitled to pre-emption at the ordinary minimum to the lands settled 

'.ii and cultivated lis them; l.nt they -hall file the proper notices of their claims and make 

proof and payment a- in other cases. 

2282. Nothing contained ill this chapter shall delay the sale of any of the public 

land- beyond the time appointed by the proclamation of the President. 
J II .'1 

■ 
Sec. 2283. The Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in the State of Kan- 
eicepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township, shall be subject to 
disposal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty 



27 

acres, or one quarter-section to each, in compact form, in accordance with the general prin- 
ciples of the pre-emption laws, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General 
Land-Office; but claimants shall file their declaratory statements as prescribed in other 
cases upon unoffered lands, and shall pay for the tracts, respectively, settled upon within 
one year from date of settlement where the plat of survey is on file at that date, and 
within one year from the filing of the township-plat ill the district office where such plat 
is not on file at date of settlement. 

Sec. 2284. The sale or transfer of his claim upon any portion of these lands by any Transfer of above 

- . . ■ i i p a m • i i i i i ill claims prior to, &c, 

settler prior to the twenty-sixth clay ot April, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall subsequent right of 

not operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of the preceding section, — — - — 

upon another tract settled upon subsequent to such sale or transfer; but satisfactory proof 3, v. 17, p. 90. 
of good faith must be furnished upon such subsequent settlement. 

Sec. 2285. The restrictions of the pre-emption laws, contained in sections twenty- pre-emption restrio- 
fcwo hundred and sixty and twenty-two hundred and sixty-one, shall not apply to any certain "lands ^Kan- 
settler on the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in the State of Kansas, — — 

i ii • t i • i • l -ii r> tit- • i i t i i 9 May, 1879,0. 149,s. 

who was actually residing on his claim on the ninth day ot May, eighteen hundred and 3, v. n,p. 90. 
seventy-two. 

Sec. 2286. There shall be granted to the several counties or parishes of each State Pre-emptions by 

i m • i i iTii i • ■ • n i*i itii counties for seats of 

and lerntory, where there are public lands, at the minimum price for which public lands justice. 

of the United States are sold, the right of pre-emption to one quarter-section of land, in 26 May, 1*24,0.1 69, 

' ° x *- L ' s. J , v. 4, p. 50. 

each of the counties or parishes, in trust for such counties or parishes, respectively, for the 
establishment of seats of justice therein; but the proceeds of the sale of each such quarter- 
section shall be appropriated for the purpose of erecting public buildings in the county or 
parish for which it is located, after deducting therefrom the amount originally paid for the 
same. And the seat of justice for such counties or parishes, respectively, shall be fixed 
previously to a sale of the adjoining lands within the county or parish for which the same 
is located. 

Sec. 2287. Any bona-fide settler under the homestead or pre-emption laws of the where claimant of 

tt • i ci iimii t i entry becomes register 

United btates who has filed the proper application to enter not to exceed one quarter- or receiver, 

section of the public lands in any district land-office, and who has been subsequently 2 <> April, i87i, c. 21, 
appointed a register or receiver, may perfect the title to the land under the pre-emption 
laws by furnishing the proofs and making the payments required by law, to the satisfac- 
tion of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. 

Sec. 2288. Any person who has already settled or hereafter may settle on the public Right of transfer of 

.,.,, . . . pii ii i i settlers under home- 

fands, either by pre-emption or by virtue of the homestead law or any amendments thereto, stead or pre-emption 

in, i-i n i .1- ./»!- laws for certain public 

shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against ins own acts, any portion of his pre- purposes, 
eruption or homestead for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right of way of §£ of i 7 Mar 2ji 1873 ' 
railroads across such pre-emption or homestead, and the transfer for such public purposes 
shall in no way vitiate the right to complete and perfect the title to their pre-emptions or 
homesteads. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 5. 

Homesteads. 
Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age who may enter cer- 
of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration public 'aids, 
of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to 20 Ma y> 1862 ,°- 75. 

7 1 / s. 1, v. 12, p. 392. 

enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which 
such person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application 
is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; or eighty 



28 

acres or less of such unappropriated lauds at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to l>c 
located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after 
the same have been surveyed. And every person owning and residing on land may, under 
the provisions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his laud, which shall 
not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the agr.tvg.ite one hundred 
and sixty acres. 

SBC. 2290. The person applying for the benefit of the preceding section shall, upon 
si June, itwt-,0. 127, application to the register of the land-office in which he is about to ma he such entry, make 
affidavit before the register or receiver that he is the. head of a family, or is twenty-one 
pears or more of age, or has performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, 
and that such application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is 
made ('or the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other person; and upon filing such affidavit with the 
register or receiver, mi payment of five dollars when the entry is of not more than eighty 
acre-, and on payment often dollars when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he 
-hall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of hind specified. 

Si . 2291. No certificate, however, shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the 
expiration of five years trom the date ot such entry; and it at the expiration of such time, 
•i- at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or if he be 
dead, hi- widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow 
making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in ease ot' her death, proves by two credible wit- 
nesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five 
years immediately succeeding the time of tiling the affidavit, and makes affidavit that no 
part of such land has been alienated, except as provided in section twenty-two hundred 
and eighty-eight, and that he, -he, or they will bear true allegiance to the Government of 
the United State-; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the 
United State-, -hall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law. 

. 2292. In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or 
children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of such 
■ infant child or children ; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time 
within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws 
of the State in which such children, for the time being, have their domicile, sell the land 
for the benefit of BUch infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire 

the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States on 

the payment of the office fee- and sum of money above specified. 

. in military - . 2293. In case of anv person desirous of availing himself of the benefits of this 

"■" i i ii ' i- . . . . ... , . . , TT . . 

m chapter; but who, by reason ot actual service m the military or naval service of the United 

ii 'ii l !• » iT-iir*. i'ii 

States, i- unable to ilo the personal preliminary acts at the district land-othce which the 
preceding sections require; and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the 
land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement 
have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer 

rimanding in the branch of the service in which the part\- is engaged, which affidavit 

-hall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register or receiver; 
and upon -ndi affidavit being tiled with the register by the wife or other representative of 
the party, the same -hall become effective from the date of such filing, provided the appli- 
cation and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. 
wiK-n r»»™ may Sbc. 229 1. In anv case iii which the applicant for the benefit of the homestead, anil 

'"' ' I 1 /• * -1* T 1 1 1 ' 1 

irt whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, 

W ami upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been made, is prevented, 



29 

l>\- reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at 
the district land-office, it may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by law 
before the clerk of the court for the county in which the applicant is an actual resident, 
and to transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to the register and receiver. 

Sec. 2295. The register of the land-office shall note all applications under the pro- Kecord m appiica- 

• i • «» -i i • _pn tion5 ' 

visions of this chapter, on the tract-books and plats of his office, and keep a register ot all — — — — 

L J x . *® May, 1802, c. 75", 

such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land-Office, together with the proof s. 3, v. 12, p. 393. 
upon which they have been founded. 

Sec. 2296. Xo lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall in any event Homestead lands not 
become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent debts. ' 
therefor 20 Ma y' 1862 < c - 75 ' 

URieiUI. s. 4, v. 12, p. 393. 

Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in section when lands entered 
twenty-two hundred and ninety, and before the expiration of the five years mentioned in to Government. 
section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one, it is proved, after clue notice to the settler, to 20May,i862,c.75,s. 

" * L ' 5 v. 12 p. 393. 

the satisfaction of the register of the land-office, that the person having filed such affidavit 
has actually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months at any 
time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the Government, 

Sec. 2298. No person shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter- Limitationofamount 

. i,r •• r» ,i • 1 entered forhomestead. 

section under the provisions ot this chapter. 

20 May, 1862, c. 75, 
s. 6, v.] 2, p. 393. 

Sec. 2299. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to impair or Existing- pre-emp- 

interfere in any manner with existing pre-emption rights ; and all persons who may paire" 8 ' 1 ''' not im 
have filed their applications for a pre-emption right prior to the twentieth day of May, 20 May. 1862, c. 75,s. 
eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be entitled to all the privileges of this chapter. 

Sec. 2300. No person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period not less what minors may 

than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, this chapter!™ s * es 
under the laws thereof, during: the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall 20 May, lsira, c. 75,s. 

6 v. J 2, p. 393. 

be deprived of the benefits of this chapter on account of not having attained the age of 
twenty-one years. 

Sec. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to prevent any person Paymentsbetoreex- 
who has availed himself of the benefits of section twenty-two hundred and eighty-nine, right's""!- applicant 1 ™' 
from paying the minimum price for the quantity of land so entered, at any time before 20 May, tsw, c. 75, s. 
the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government^ 
as in other cases directed by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as pro- 
vided by law, granting pre-emption rights. 

Sec. 2302. No distinction shall be made in the construction or execution of this no distinction on ac- 

chapter on account of race or color ; nor shall any mineral lands be liable to entry and &c. 

settlement under its provisions. ~ l J ™ e ' ^ c - m > 

■F s. J , v. 14, p. 67. 

Sec. 2303. All the public lands in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 21 June, 1866, c . 127, 
Arkansas, and Florida shall be disposed of in no other manner than according to the s ' Repealed. 67 ' 
terms and stipulations contained in the preceding provisions of this chapter. % Jm n 18W ' °' LB5 ' 

Sec. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the soldiers' and sailors' 
United States during the recent rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably - 

t i i i i . -. , ^ . , ,. , i 8 June, 1872, c. 338, 

discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, including the troops mustered s. 1, v. 17, P . 333. 
into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act approved 
February thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and 
officer who has served in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, during 
the rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained 
loyal to the Government, shall, on compliance with the provisions of ~ this chapter, as 



30 

hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of 
public lands not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section, to be 
taken in compact form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved 
sections of public land along the line of any railroad or other public work, not otherwise 
reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws 
of the United States; but such homestead settler shall be allowed six months after 
locating his homestead, and filing his declaratory statement, within which to make his 
entry and commence his settlement and improvement. 
DadDoUoo ,.r mm- Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Army, Navy, 

h£ Z!.' u * ':'! '"""'" or Marine Corps, shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, 
b~j - . or it' discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, 
then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect 
title, without reference to the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall 
issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his 
homestead for a period of at least one year alter he shall have commenced his improvements. 
. '_'•"."•;. Every person entitled, under the provisions of section twenty-three 
" hundred and four, to enter a homestead who may have heretofore entered, under the 
- homestead law-, a quantity of land less than one hundred and sixty acres, shall be per- 
mitted to enter so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall 
nut exceed one hundred and sixty acres. 

. '-!-".i>7. In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead 

II •• I* • I ' 1 1 1 1 /- TL • ' 1 •/» • 1 

under the provisions ot section twenty-three hundred and tour, his widow, it unmarried, 
or in case ut' her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly 

• 1111 • i i 

appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to 
all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the provisions as to settlement 
and improvement therein contained ; hut if such person died during his term of enlistment, 
the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to 
perfeel the title. 

231 18. Where a party at the date of his entry of a tract of land under the home- 
stead law-, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in the Army or 
Navy 'if the United States, hi- services therein shall, in the administration of such honie- 

! law-. 1.. ostrued to lie equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the 

same length of time upon the tract so entered. And if his entry has been canceled by 
son ot' his absence from such tract while in the military or naval service of the United 
State-, ami -ueh traet has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored; but if such 
tract ha- been di-po-ed of, the party may enter another tract subject to entry under the 
homestead laws, and hi- right to a patent therefor maybe determined by the proofs touch- 
ing hi- residence and cultivation of the first tract and his absence therefrom in such service. 

w , njaataf i. y Se< . 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming within the 

provisions of section twenty-three hundred and four, may, as well by an agent as in person, 
enter upon such homestead by filing ;i declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases; but 
-ueh claimant in pei -mi -hall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence 
settlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the requirements of law. 
fttoek- SB . 2310. Each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of families of the Stockbridge 

Munsee tribes of Indians residing in the county of Shawana, State of Wisconsin, may, 
■ under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, enter a homestead and become entitled 
to all the benefits of this chapter, free from any fee or charge ; and any part of their present 
reservation, which i- abandoned for that purpose, may be sold, under the direction of the 



31 

Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of such Indians as may 
settle on homesteads, to aid them in improving the same. 

Sec. 2311. The homestead secured, by virtue of the preceding section, shall not be Exemptions oi 

subject to any tax, levy, or sale ; nor shall it be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in any S|e t Mun S ees. St ° < *" 

manner incumbered, except upon the decree of the district court of the United States, as 3March,i865,e.i27, 

provided in the following section : ' v ' ' p " 562 ' 

Sec. 2312. Whenever any of the chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of the tribes stockbridge Mun- 
mentioned in section twenty-three hundred and ten, having filed with the clerk of the dis- _" " ' 

« ■■ T-r ■ " i n ii • " 3 March, 1865, o.l W, 

trict court ot the United States a declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the s. 4, v. i.i, ,.. 56a. 
United States, and to dissolve all relations with any Indian tribe, two years previous thereto, 
appears in such court, and proves to the satisfaction thereof, by the testimony of two citi- 
zens, that for five years last past he has adopted the habits of civilized life ; that he has 
maintained himself and family by his own industry ; that he reads and speaks the English 
language ; that he is well disposed to become a peaceable and orderly citizen ; and that he 
has sufficient capacity to manage his own affairs ; the court may enter a decree admitting 
him to all the rights of a citizen of the United States, and thenceforth he shall be no longer 
held or treated as a member of any Indian tribe, but shall be entitled to all the rights and 
privileges, and be subject to all the duties and liabilities to taxation of other citizens of the 
United States. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to deprive such chiefs, 
warriors, or heads of families of annuities to which they are or may be entitled. 

Sec. 2313. The unoccupied lands in the reservation made for the Ottawa and Chip- unsoia lands of the 
pewa Indians, of Michigan, by the treaty of July thirty-one, eighteen hundred and fifty- Indians , a how "openeav 
five, shall be open to homestead entry for six months from the tenth day of June, eighteen 



. . . . 10 June, 1879, c. 424, 

hundred and seventy-two, by Indians only ot those tribes who have not made selections or s. 2, v. 17, P . 38i. 

purchases under the treaty, including such members of the tribes as have become of age since 

the expiration of the ten years named in the treaty ; and every Indian so entitled shall be 

permitted to make his homestead entry, at the local land-office, within such six months, of 

not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section of minimum, or eighty 

acres of double-minimum land, on making proper proof of his right, under such rules as 

may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 2314. The collector of customs for the district in which such land is situated, is seiectionsforminors 
authorized, and it is made his duty, to select for such minor children as would be entitled, "ion 6 ' rrece mg se ° 
under the preceding section, as the heirs of any Indian. 10 June, i872,c. 424, 

r ° J s. 2, v. 17, p. 381 

Sec. 2315. All actual, permanent, bona fide settlers on any of such lands who settled Bona-fide settlers on 

.„, ot 'l liii ini .71 above lands prior to, 

prior to the first day ot January, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, shall be entitled to &c. 

enter either under the homestead laws, or to pay for at the minimum or double-minimum 10 June, 1872, c. 424, 

' l J . s. 3, v. 17, p. 381. 

price, as the case may be, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres of the former, or eighty 
acres of the latter class of land on making proof of his settlement and continued residence 
before the expiration of six months from the tenth day of June, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two. 

Sec. 2316. All selections of such lands by Indians heretofore made and regularly certain lands to be 
reported and recognized as valid and proper by the Secretary of the Interior and Conimis- making selection, 
sioner of Indian Affairs, shall be patented to the respective Indians making the same ; and 10 June, 1872, 0. 424, 

. _. . s. 4, v. 17, p. 381. 

all sales heretofore made and reported, where the same are regular and not in conflict with 
such selections, or with any other valid adverse right, except of the United States, are 
confirmed, and patents shall issue thereon as in other cases according to law. 



32 



Vnnu Sec. 2317. Every person having a homestead on the public domain, under the pro- 

visions of this chapter, who, at the end of the third year of his residence thereon, shall 
*VZn ' have had under cultivation, tor two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being 

more than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good, thrifty condition, for each and every 
sixteen acres of such homestead shall, upon due proof of the fact by two credible wit- 
nesses, receive his patent for such homestead. 

********* 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

,ry. Sr,. .").•',!••_'. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, 

- officer or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to 

18, \ . l. j> l lt>. * I • , _ , ■ , , 

s be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 

stimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and 

gjfc .ntrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to 

« true.' i- guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a tine of not more than two thousand 

lollare, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, 

' thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until such 

time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.] 

[No. ±] 

\\ w T in amend section twenty two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, 

in relation to proof required in homestead entries. 

/;, U enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

,1,1, 1, Thai the proof of residence, occupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the 
oath "f allegiance, required to be made by section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised 
- mi,-, of the United Stat,-, may be made before the judge, or, ill his absence, before the clerk of any 
court of record of the county and State, or district and Territory, in which the lands are situated; and if 
-iid land- an- situated in any unorganized county, such proof maybe made in a similar manner in any 
adjacent county in -aid State or Territory; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly 
subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register or receiver of the proper 
land-district; and the same -ball be transmitted by such judge, or (he clerk of his court, to the register and 
the receiver, with the fee and charges allowed by law to him; and the register and receiver shall be entitled 
t,, the -am,' fe,- for examining and approving said testimony as arc now allowed bylaw for taking the same. 

- . 2. That if any witness making -neb pi I', or the said applicant making such affidavit or oath, 

-wear- falsely as t,, any materia] matter contained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing 
being willful and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and 
penalties as if he bad -worn falsely before the register. 

Approved March •"., 1*77. 

[No. 3.] 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands under the preemption laws. 

/;, ,7 enacted h,, ih, Senate and //<»<«< of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

assembled, That when any person who has made a settlement on the public lands under the pre-emption 

law- -hall change hi- filing to that for a homestead entry, the time required to perfect his title under the 

homestead law- -ball be computed from the date of his original settlement made under the pre-emption laws. 

Approved March •">, 1*77. 



33 

[No. 4.] 
A\ ACT to amend the act entitled "An Act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled, That the act entitled "An Act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies," approved 
March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, be, and the same is hereby amended so as to read as 
follows: That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, 
and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as 
required by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, protect, and keep in a healthy 
growing condition for eight years, forty acres of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet 
apart each way, on any quarter section of any of the public lands of the United States, or twenty acres on 
any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or ten acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres, or one-fourth 
part of any fractional subdivision of land less than forty acres, shall be entitled to a patent for the whole. 
of said quarter section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision of less 
than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said eight years, on making jjroof of such fact by 
not less than two credible witnesses : Provided, That not more than one quarter of any section shall be thus 
granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry under the provisions of this act, unless frac- 
tional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter 
section . 

Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of 
the land district in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the register, or the 
receiver, or some officer authorized to administer oaths in the district where the land is situated, who is 
required by law to use an official seal, that said entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and upon filing 
said, affidavit with said register and said receiver, and on payment often dollars, he or she shall thereupon 
be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified ; and the party making an entry of a quarter section 
under the provisions of this act shall be required to break ten acres of land covered thereby the first 
year, ten acres the second year, and twenty acres the third year after date of entry, and to plant ten 
acres of timber the second year, ten acres the third year, and twenty acres the fourth year after date of 
entry. A party making an entry of eighty acres shall break and plant, at the times hereinbefore prescribed, 
one-half of the quantity required of a party who enters a quarter section; and a party entering forty 
acres shall break and plant, at the times hereinbefore prescribed, one-quarter of the quantity required 
of a party who enters a quarter section, or a proportionate quantity for any smaller fractional subdivision : 
Provided, however, That no final certificate shall be given or patent issued for the land so entered until 
the expiration of eight years from the date of such entry; and if at the expiration of such time, or at 
any time within five years thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if he or she be dead, his or her 
heirs, or legal representatives, shall prove, by two credible witnesses, that he, or she, or they have 
planted, and, for not less than eight years, have cultivated and protected, such quantity and character 
of timber as aforesaid, they shall receive a patent for such quarter section or legal subdivision of eighty 
or forty acres of land, or for any fractional quantity of less than forty acres, as herein provided. And 
in case of the death of a person who has complied with the provisions of this act for the period of 
three years, his heirs or legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions of this 
act, and receive, at the expiration of eight years, a patent for one hundred and sixty acres, or receive 
without delay a patent for forty acres, relinquishing all claim to the remainder. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior to the issuing of the patent for 
said land, the claimant shall abandon the land, or fail to do the breaking and planting required by this 
act, or any part thereof, or shall fail to cultivate, protect, and keep in good condition such timber, then, 
and in that event, such land shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other person 
under the provisions of this act : Provided, That the party making claim to said land, either as a homestead 
5 



34 

- ttl.T or under this act, shall give, at the time of filing his application, such notice to the original claimant 
as shall be prescribed by the rules established by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the 
rights of the panic- shall 1"' determined as in other contested cases. 

>i , . |. Thai each and every person who, under the provisions of the act entitled "An Act to secure 
homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
two, or any amendment thereto, having a homestead on said public domain, who, at any time after the end 
of the third year of hi- or her residence thereon, shall, in addition to the settlement and improvements now 
required by law, have had under cultivation, for two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being 
more than twelve feel apart each \\a\ , and in a good thrifty condition, .for each and every sixteen acres of 
-aid homestead, -hall, upon due proof of Bttcb fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or her patent for 
-aid homestead. 

Sec. 5. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to 
the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of certificate therefor. 

- a 6. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue 
such nth- and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall he necessary and proper to carry its provisions 
into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall each he entitled to receive 
two dollars at the time of entry, and the same sum when the claim is finally established and the final cer- 
tificate issued. 

SEC. 7. That (he fifth section of the act entitled "Au Act in addition to an act to punish crimes 
against the United States, ami for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred mid fifty-seven, 
-hall extend to all oaths affirmation-, and affidavits required or authorized by this act. 

I'hat parties who have already made entries under the act approved March third, eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-three, of which this is amendatory, shal] be permitted to complete the same upon full 
compliance with the provisions of this act. 

Approved Match 1-".. 187 I. 



[X,.. 5.] 

\\ \i r niakini; appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for fiscal years ending June 
thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and prior years, and for other purposes. 

/;, it enacted by th< SentxU and House of Representatives of the United States of Anuria/ in, Congress 
Med, *****'******* 

SBC. 1">. That any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head of a family, or who has arrived 
at the age. of twenty-one years, and who lias abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, 
-hall, on making satisfactory proof of such abandonment under rules to he prescribed by the Secretary of 
the Interior, be entitled to the benefits of the act entitled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers 
on the public domain," approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the acts amenda- 
tory thereof, except that the provisions of the eighth section of the said act shall not he held to apply to 
entries made under this act: Provided, however, That the title to lands acquired by any Indian by virtue 
hereof -hall not I"- subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary conveyance, or the judgment, 
decree, or order of any court, and -hall he and remain inalienable for a period of five years from the date 
of the patent issued therefor: Provided, Thai any such Indian shall he entitled to his distributive share of 
all annuities, tribal fund-, land-, and other property, the same as though he had maintained his tribal 
relation.-; and any transfer, alienation, or incumbrance of any interest he may hold or claim by reason of 
hi- formal tribal relation- -hall hi' void. 

- . L6. That in all ca-e- in which Indians have heretofore entered public lands under the Home- 
Btead law, and have proceeded in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the 
1 I neral Land < >lli<-c, or in which they may hereafter he allowed to so enter under said regulations prior to 



35 

the promulgatioD of regulations to be established by the Secretary of the Interior under the fifteenth section 
of this act, and in which the conditions proscribed by law have been or may be complied with, the entries 
so allowed are hereby confirmed, and patents shall be issued thereon; subject, however, to the restrictions 
and limitations contained in the fifteenth section of this act in regard to alienation and incumbrance. 
Approved March 3, 1875. 



[No. 6.] 
CASH APPLICATION. 
N< >. . Land Office at 



(Date) , 187 

-, of county, , do hereby apply to purchase the of section 



in township , of range , containing acres, according to the returns of the surveyor 

general, for which I have agreed with the register to give at the rate of per acre. 



I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that the lot above described 

contains acres, as mentioned above, and that the price agreed upon is per acre. 

, Register. 



[No. 7.] 
CASH RECEIPT. 
No. . Receiver's Office at 



> 



(Bate) , 187- 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 



cents; being in full for the ■ quarter of section No. , in township No. , of range 

No. ■ , containing acres and hundredths, at $ per acre. 

, Receiver. 



[No. 8.] 
CASH CERTIFICATE. 



No. . Land Office at , 

(Bate) , 187—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of law, , of county, State of , 

on this day purchased of the register of this office the lot or of section No. , in township 

No. , of range No. , containing acres, at the rate of dollars and cents 

per acre, amounting to dollars and cents, for which the said ha — made 

payment in full as required by law. 

Now, therefore, be it hnovm that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, the said shall be entitled to receive a patent for the lot above described. 



-, Register. 



36 
[No. 9.] 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 187— 

Mr. has this day paid dollars, the register's and receiver's fees, to file a 

declaratory statement, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. 

, Receiver. 



No. . 

Mr. , having paid the fees, has this day filed in this office his declaratory statement, 

N.i. . for of section , in township , of range , containing acres, 

settled upon , 18 — , being offered. 

, Register. 



[No. 10.] 

DEI I. A UAToKY STATEMENT FOR CASKS WHERE THE LAND IS NOT SUBJECT 

TO PRIVATE ENTRY. 

I, , of , bang , have, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , settled 



and improved the quarter of section number , in township Dumber , of range 

Dumber , in the district of lands subject to sale at the land office at , and containing 

acn-, which land lias not yet been offered at public sale, and thus rendered subject to private entry; and 
I do hereby declare my intention to claim the said tract of land as a pre-emption right under section 2259 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 

In presence of . 



[No. 11.] 

DECLARATORY BTATEMENT FOR CASKS WHERE THE LAND CLAIMED IS 

SI I :.l 1 .( T TO PRIVATE ENTRY. 

I, , of , being , have, since the 1st day of , A. D. 18 — , settled 

and improved tin quarter of section Dumber , in township Dumber , of range number — — , 

in the district of land- subject to sale at the land office at , and containing acres, which 

land A"--- been rendered subject to private entry prior to my settlement thereon ; and I do hereby declare my 
intention to claim the said tract of land ae a pre-emption right, under section 2259, of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States. 

( riven under my hand this day of , A. D., 18 — . 



In preserve of- 



37 

[No. 12.] 
AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF PRE-EMPTION CLAIMANT. 

-, claiming the right of pre-emption, under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of 



the United States, to the quarter of section number , of township number , of range 

number , subject to sale at ■ , do solemnly that I have never had the benefit of any right 

of pre-emption under said section ; that I am not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in 
any State or Territory of the United States, nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the 
same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my own exclusive use or benefit; and that I 
have not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person 
or persons whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United States 
should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except myself. 



-, of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken 



and subscribed before me this day of , A. D. 1 8 — . 



[No. 13.] 

We, ■ , , do solemnly swear that ■ ,* and is an 

inhabitant of the quarter of section number , of township number , of range number 

, and that no other person resided upon the said land, entitled to the right of pre-emption. That the 

said entered upon and made settlement in person on the said land since the day of 

, 18 — , to wit, on the day of , 18—, and has lived in the said house, and made it his 

exclusive home, from the day of , 18 — , until the present time. That he did not remove 

from his own land within the State of to make the settlement above referred to ; and that he has 

since said settlement plowed, fenced, and cultivated about acres of said land. 



I, , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed before me 

this day of , A. D. 18—. 



We certify that , , whose name subscribed to the foregoing 

affidavit, person — of respectability. ■ , Register. 

, Receiver. 



[No. 14.] 
HOMESTEAD. 



Application | Land Office at , , 

No. J (Bate) ,187—. 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States, the of section , in township , of range , containing 

acres. . 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 187—. 

I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above application is for 

surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under section 2289 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States, and that there is no prior, valid, adverse right to the same. 

, Register. 

* Here state the personal qualifications prescribed in section 2259 of the Revised Statutes. 



38 

[No. 15.] 
HOMESTEAD. 

AFFIDAVIT. 



L \xn Office at 



(Date) , 187—. 

I, , iif , having filed my application, No. , for an entry under section 2289 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, do solemnly swear that [here state whether the applicant is the 

amity, "/■ over twenty-one pears of age; whether a citizen of the United States, <>r has filed his 

declaration of ini beco mini/ such ; or, if under twenty^one years of age, flint he has served not less 

tlm, days in the Army or Navy of the United States during actual war; that said application, 

\ . , ig made for his or her exdusivi benefit; and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual 

.*,■/// ' cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons 

whom ind thai I have not heretofore had the benefit of said section 2289. 



n to and Bubecribed, this day of , before 



Register, [or Receiver^ 



[No. 16.] 
Ki. etvek's Receipt, No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office , 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county , the sum of dollars and cents, 

1,,-ii:. -.lint of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the entry of of section , 

in township of range , under section Revised Statute- of the United States. 

■ , Receiver. 



[No. 17.] 
FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS. 

Section \n. :.'!>!, Ii'rrixril S/nhilrx of the United Sfnlr.s. 

1. , having made a honic~iead entry of the section No. , in township 

No. , of range No. , subjed to entry at under the first section of the homestead act 

of . do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291, Revised Statutes of 

the United State-; and for that purpose d.0 solemnly that a citizen of the United 

- U»; thai I have made actual settlement upon and have cultivated said land, having resided thereon since 

the day of , IS — , to the present time; that no part of said land lias been alienated, hut 

that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler; and that 1 will hear true allegiance to the Govern- 
ment Of the I 'nited Stat 



I, f of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken 

and subscribed before me this day of , 187 — . 



39 



[No. 18.] 

FINAL HOMESTEAD PROOF REQUIRED UNDER SECTION 2291 OF THE REVISED 

STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, , , do solemnly that we have known for 

years last past ; that lie is consisting of and a citizen of the United States ; 



that 



an inhabitant of the 



of section No. 



in township No. 



of ranee No. 



and that do other person resided upon the said land entitled to the right of homestead or pre-emption. 

That the said entered upon and made settlement on said land on the day 

of , 18 — , and has built a house thereon , and has lived in the said house and made it his 



exclusive home from the 



day of ■ 



— , 18 — , to the present time, and that he has, since said 

settlement, plowed, fenced, and cultivated about acres of said land, and has made the following 

improvements thereon, to wit: . 



do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed before me 



this 



day of , 1 8- 



We certify that 
of respectability. 



-, whose names are subscribed to the foregoing affidavit, are persons 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 



Final Receiver's Receipt, No. 



Received from 



[No. 19.] 
HOMESTEAD. 



Application No. 



of- 



Receiver's Office, •, 

(Date) , 18—. 

county, , the sum of dollars and cents, 



of section 



in township 



being the balance of payment required by law for the entry of the 

of range , containing acres, under section of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States. 



, Receiver, 



[No. 20.] 
HOMESTEAD. 



Land Office at 

(Date) — 



-, 18-. 



Final Certificate No. 



Application No. 



It is hereby certified, pursuant to section No. 2291, Revised Statutes of the United States, that 

, of county, , has made, payment in full for of section No. , in 

township No. , of range No. , containing acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



40 

[No. 21.] 
COMMUTATION PROOF UNDER SECTION 2301 OF THE REVISED STATUTES. 

I. , claiming the right to commute, under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes, my 

homestead entry X<>. , made upon the of section , in township , of range , 

do solemnly swear that I made settlement upon said land on the day of , 18 — , and that 

since said date, to wit: on the day of , 18 — , I have built a house on said land, and have 

continued to reside therein up to the present time, and that I have broken and cultivated acres of 

said land. 

I farther -wear that 1 have not heretofore had the benefit of the homestead laws, nor abandoned an 
entry previously made under their provisions. 



Land Office, 



Sworn and subscribed to before me this day of- 



-, Register. 



We. , — — — — , do solemnly swear that we have known for 

— ; that he is ;i citizen of the United States, and is an inhabitant of the of section , 



township , range ; that the said entered upon and made settlement in person 

on the said land on the day of , 18 — . 

He has buill a house on said land, and has lived in said house and made it his home from the 

day of ,18 , until the present time, and that he has, since said settlement, made the following 

improvements on said land, to wit: , and has plowed, fenced, and cultivated about acres. 



Land Office, 
Sworn and subscribed to before me this day <>f , IS — . 



-, Register. 



| No. 22.] 

ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 187—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under the 

provisions of the act of < longress approved .May 20, 1862, entitled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual 

BettieiS on the public domain," do Bolemnly swear that , [hen- state whether the applicant is 

Hi, head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age; whether <i eitizen of the United States, or has filed his 
d\ duration of intt niion of becoming such, or, if wider twenty-one years of <kj<\ that he has sirred not less than 
fourteen days in Hie Arm;/ or Navy of the United States during actual war ;] that said entry is made for 
my own exclusive benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the benefit or use of any other person or persons 
whomsoever; neither have I heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under this act; that the land 

embraced in the -aid application No. , i- intended for an adjoining farm homestead; that I now own 

and reside upon an original farm containing acres, and no more; that the same comprises the 

of section . town-hip , range , and is contiguous to the tract this day applied for. 



■rn to and subscribed this day of , before 



of the Land Office. 



41 



[No. 23.] 
FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS. 

Section 2291, Revised Statute*. 



of 



range 



, having made a homestead entry of the section N>. , in township No. 

No. , subject to entry at , for the use of an adjoining farm owned and occupied 

by me on the of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , under section 2289 

of the Revised Statutes, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291 of the 
same, and for that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United States; that I have con- 
tinued to own and occupy the land constituting my original farm, having resided thereon since the 

day of , 18 — , to the jn'esent time, and have made use of the said entered tract as a part of my 



homestead, and have improved the same in the following manner, viz: 



That no part of said 



land has been alienated, but that I am the sole bona tide owner as an actual settler; that I will bear true 
allegiance to the Government of the United States ; and, further, that I have not heretofore perfected or 
abandoned an entry under the homestead laws. 



I, , of the land office at 

was taken and subscribed before me this day of ■ 



-, do hereby certify that the above affidavit 
,18-. 



[Xo. 24.] 

FINAL HOMESTEAD PROOF REQUIRED UNDER SECTION 2291 OF THE REVISED 
STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES IN ADJOINING FARM CASES. 



We, , ■ 

years last past ; that he is 

is an inhabitant of the — 



do solemnlv 



that we have known 



for 



— consisting of , and a citizen of the United States; that he 

of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , being the 



original farm tract owned and occupied by him, and the adjoining tract entered by him for the use thereof, 
as per entry No. ; and that no other person resided upon the said land entitled to the right of home- 
stead or pre-emption. 

That the said 



it his exclusive home from the 



has a house thereon, and has lived in the said house and made 

— day of , 18 — , to the present time, and that he has, since the 

date of his homestead entry, plowed, fenced, and cultivated about acres of said land, and has made 

the following improvements on the entered tract, viz : . 



I, , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed before me this 

-day of , 18—. 



We certify that 

are persons of resjiectability. 



-, whose names are subscribed to the foregoing affidavit, 



-, Register. 
-, Receiver. 



42 

[No. 25.] 

SOLDI Kirs HOMESTEAD. 

S etion 2804 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

homestead declaration. 

\,,. . Land Office at 

(Bate) , 1ST—. 

[ , do hereby declare and give notice that T claim for a homestead, under section 2304 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting homesteads to honorably discharged soldiers and 

sailors, their widow- and orphan-, the of section , of township , of range , containing 

acre-: and I further declare that 1 take i he said tract of land for actual settlement and cultivation, 

and for my own use and benefit. 



Per , his Attorney in fact. 



[No. 26.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

[of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

application. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 187—. 

I. , hereby apply to enter, under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

Stat.-, the of section . of township , of range , containing acres, and 

for which 1 filed my declaration on the day of , , through , my dulv- 

appointed agent 



I, . register of the land office at , do hereby certify that 

filed the above application at this office on the day of , , and that he lias taken the oath 

and paid the fee- and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



[Xo. -27.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

Section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

utiuavit. 

\',,. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 187—. 

T, .of , do solemnly swear that lama , of the age of twenty - 

one year-, and a citizen of the United States; that I served for ninety days in company , 



regiment, United States volunteers; that I was mustered into the United States military service the 

dav of , , and was honorably discharged therefrom on the day of , ; that I 

have since borne true allegiance to the Government; and that I have made my application, No. — , to 



43 

enter a tract of land under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, giving homesteads to 
honorably discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children; that I have made said appli- 
cation in good faith ; and that I take said homestead for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, 
and for my own exclusive use and benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person or persons whom- 
si 'ever ; and that I have not heretofore acquired a title to a tract of land under the homestead laws, or 
voluntarily relinquished or abandoned an entry heretofore made under said laws : So help me God. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me, , register of the land office at , this 

- day of , 187 — . 

, Register. 



[No. 28.] 
ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 

APPLICATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 



{Date) , 187—, 

I, , of county^ State of , being entitled to the benefits of section 2306 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting additional lands to soldiers and sailors who served 

in the war of the rebellion, do hereby apply to enter the of section , of township , of 

range , containing acres, as additional to my original homestead on the of section 

, of township , of range , containing acres, which I entered , 

18 — , per homestead No. . 



Land Office at , 

(Bate) , 187—. 

I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that ■ 

filed the above application before me for the tract of land therein described, and that lie has paid the fee 
and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



[No. 29.] 

ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 



> 



Land Office at 

(Date) , 187—. 

Final Certificate 1 ( Application 

No. . J \ No. . 

It is hereby certified that, pursuant to the provisions of section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of 

the United States, has paid the fee and commissions, and made entry of the of 

section , of township , of range , containing acres, which added to the quan- 
tity embraced in his original homestead No. — , on which he has made final proof, as per certificate No. — , 
does not exceed one hundred and sixty acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



44 

[No. 30.] 

INDIAN HOMESTEAD UNDER ACT MARCH 3, 1875. 

AFFIDAVIT. 

T , ,,t' , having filed my application, No. — , for an entry under the 

provisions of the act of Congress of March ■".. 1875, do solemnly swear that I am an Indian, formerly of 

the tribe; that I was born in the United States; that I have abandoned my relations with that 

tribe, and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life; [here state whether the applicant is twenty-one 
years of age, or tfu head of a family/] that I desire said land for the purpose of actual settlement and 
cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; 
and that 1 have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me tliis day of , 18 — . 



Register, [or Receiver.'] 



[No, 31.] 
CORROBORATIVE AFFIDAVIT— INDIAN HOMESTEAD— UNDER ACT MARCH 3,1875. 
and do solemnly swear that we arc well acquainted with ■ 



, and know tliat he is an Indian, formerly of the tribe; that he was born in the United 

that he has abandoned his relations with that tribe, and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized 
life; [liiri stair ilmi In A-.- twenty-one years of age, or, if not, that he is the head of a family.] 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 32.] 

TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF MARCH 13, 1874. 

Application No. . 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under the provisions of the first section of the act of March 

13, 1874, entitled "An Act to amend the act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on western 
prairies,'" the of section ■, in township , of range , containing 



Land Office at , 

[Date) , 187—. 

I, . register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above application is for the 

class of land- which the applicant i- legally entitled to enter under the provisions of the first section of the 
timber-culture act of March 13, 1874; that there is no prior, valid, adverse right to the same, and that 
the land therein de-.ril.eil, together with the lands heretofore entered under this act and the act of March 
::. 1-7:;, .,f which thi- i- amendatory, in the -aid section, does not exceed one quarter thereof. 

, Register. 



45 

[No. 33.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF MARCH 13, 1874. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 187—. 

I, , having filed my application, No. — , for an entry under the provisions of the first 

section of the act of Congress approved March 13, 1874, entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled An 

Act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies,'" do solemnly that I am the head of a 

family, [or over 21 years of ugc,~\ and a citizen of the United States, [or have declared my intention to become 
such;] that the section of land specified in my said application is composed exclusively of prairie lands 
naturally devoid of timber; that this entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and that I have not 
heretofore made an entry under this act, or the act of March 3, 1873, of which this is amendatory. 



s 



Sworn to and subscribed, this day of , 18 — , before me. 



Register, [or Receiver .] 



Note. — In case the applicant seeks to enter a fractional subdivision containing less than 40 acres, and shall have made one or 
more similar entries of such fractional subdivisions, the last clause of the above affidavit will be modified accordingly. 



[No. 34.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE. 



Receiver's Receipt, \ J Application 

No. . J \ No. . 

Receiver's Office, , 

(Bate) , 187—. 

Received of the sum of dollars cents, being the amount of fee and compen- 
sation of register and receiver for the entry of , of section in township , of range 

, under the first section of the act of Congress approved March 13, 1874, entitled "An Act to 

encourage the growth of timber on western prairies." 

$ . , Receiver. 



[No. 35.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE HOMESTEAD— ACT OF MARCH 13, 1874. 

FINAL AFFIDAVIT. 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the of section , in township 

-, of range , subject to entry at , under the homestead laws of the United States, do 



now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of the provisions of the fourth section of the act of March 
13, 1874, entitled "An Act to amend the act entitled 'An Act "to encourage the growth of timber on 

western prairies,' " and for that purpose do solemnly that I, , am a citizen of the United 

States ; that I have made actual settlement upon and have cultivated the said land, having resided thereon 

continuously since the day of , 18 — , to the present time; that no part of said land has 

been alienated, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler; and that I will bear true 

allegiance to the Government of the United States; and I do further that the above-described lands 

are prairie lands, naturally devoid of timber, and that I have planted thereon, and had under cultivation 



, 46 

for two rears last past, acres of [here describe varieties oj timber] timber of which the trees are not 

more than twelve feet apart each way, and that the same are in a good, thrifty condition. 



I. . of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was 

taken and subscribed before me this day of , IS — . 

, Register, [<</■ Receiver.] 



[No. 36.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE HOMESTEAD. 

PROOF REQUIRED UNDER THE HOMESTEAD LAWS AND Till". TIMBER-CULTURE ACT OF MARCH 13, 1874. 

We, . , do solemnly thai we have known for years last past; 

that he i- consisting of , and a citizen of the United States ; that he is an inhabitant 

of the of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , and that no other 

person resided upon the -aid land entitled to the right of homestead or pre-emption. 

That tin- -aid entered upon and made settlement on said land on the day of , 

1> — , and ha.- built a house thereon, [here describe house,] and has lived in the said house and made it his 

exclusive home from the day of , 18 — . to the present time; and that he has, since said 

settlement, plowed, fenced, and cultivated about acres of said land, and has made the following 

improvements thereon, to wit: [here state improvements;] and we do further swear that the above-described 

land- are prairie land-, naturally devoid of timber, and thai the said has planted thereon, 

ami had under cultivation for two years last past, acres of [here describe varieties of timber] timber of 

which the trees are not more than twelve feet apart each way, and that the same arc in a good, thrifty 
condition. 



I, , , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed before 

mi- this day of — , is — . 



We certify that and , whose names are subscribed to the foregoing 

affidavit, arc persons of respectability. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 



[No. :57.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE HOMESTEAD. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Final Certificate i f Application 

\... . i \ No. . 

// is hereby certified, pursuant to tin- provisions of section 2291 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

Sen.- and the 1th sectii f the act of March 13, 1874, entitled "An Act to amend the act entitled 'An 

Act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies,'" that , of comity, 

, has made payment in full for the of section No. , in township No. , of range 

No. , containing acre-. 

Now, therefore, be it known, That on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land < Office the -aid shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



47 

[No. 38.] 
AN ACT to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories. 

Be It enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stcdes of America in Congress 
assembled, That it shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age " who 
may be entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to become such," and upon payment of 
twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land district 
in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, 
by conducting water upon the same within the period of three years thereafter : provided, however, that the 
right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same on or to any tract of desert land of six hun- 
dred and forty acres shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation; and such right shall not exceed the 
amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation; 
and all surplus water over and above such actual appropriation and use, together with the water of all 
lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public lands and not navigable, shall remain and 
be held free for the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing purposes 
subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly said section of land if surveyed, and 
if unsurveyed shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. At any time within the 
period of three years after filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory proof to the register and receiver 
of the reclamation of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to the receiver of 
the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres to 
any one person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him : provided, that no person shall be permitted 
to enter more than one tract of land, and not to exceed six hundred and forty acres, which shall be in com- 
pact form. 

Sec. 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, 
produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact 
shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in 
the land office in which said tract of land may be situated. 

Sec. 3. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States of California, Oregon, and 
Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and 
Dakota, and the determination of what may be considered desert land shall be subject to the decision and 
regulation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



[No. 39.] 
DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DECLARATION. 

No. . Land Office at 



{Date) , 187—. 

I, , of county, of , being duly sworn, depose and declare, 

That I am a citizen of the United States, of the age of , and a resident of said county and , 



and by occupation a ; that I intend to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, by 

conducting water upon the same, within three years from date, under the provisions of the act of Congress 
approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and 
Territories." The desert land which I intend to reclaim does not exceed one section, and is situated in 

county, in the land district, and is described as follows, to wit: the of section 

No. , township No. , range No. . I further depose, that I have made no other 

declaration for desert lands under the provisions of said act; that the land above described will not, without 
irrigation, produce an agricultural crop ; that there is no timber growing upon said land ; that there is not, 



48 

to niv knowledge, within fche limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, or other ruck in place, bearing 
gold, siver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; that there is not within the limits of said 
land, t>> mv knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit or salines; that no 
portion of said land is claimed for mining purposes, under the loeal customs or rules of miners or otherwise ; 
that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during any part of the year by any person or persons; 

that said land is essentially non-mineral land; that 1 became acquainted with said land by ; and 

that mv declaration therefor is not matte for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining title to mineral land, 
timber land, or agricultural land, but for the purpose of faithfully reclaiming, within three years from the 
date hereof, by conducting water thereon, a tract of land which is desert land within the meaning of the act. 



Land Office at — 



(Date) , 187- 

1 hereby certify that tin foregoing declaration was this day sworn t<> and subscribed before me. 

, Register. 

— ■ , Receiver. 



[ \ T o. 40.] 

DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

affidavit. 

\ . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 187—. 

I , of county, , being duly sworn, declare, upon oath, That T am a 

resident of said county and ; that I am of fche age of and by occupation a ; that 

1 am well acquainted with the character of each and every legal subdivision of the following-described 

| a ,„|. th e section No. , township X<>. , range No. ; that I became acquainted 

with -aid land by : th.it I have Keen acquainted with it for years last past; that I have 

frequently passed over it ; that my knowledge of said land is such as to enable me to testily understandingly 
concerning it : that tin- same i- desert land within the meaning of the seen id section of the act of Congress 
approved March :!, 1x77, entitled " V.n Act to provide for the sale of des Tt lands in certain States and 
Territories;" that said land will not, without artificial irrigation, produce any agricultural crop; that no 
agricultural crop has ever been raised or cultivated on said land for the reason that it does not contain 
sufficient moisture for successful cultivation; that the same is essentially dry and arid land, wholly unfit 
for cultivation without artificial irrigation; that said land cannot lie successfully cultivated without 

reclamation by conducting water then ; that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccupied, 

and unsettled, because it has been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of its dry and arid 
condition; that it is a fact well known, patent, and notorious, that the same will not, in its natural con- 

diti produce any crop, that the land is thi ; that there is uo timber growing thereon, but that 

it i- devoid of timber; that there is not, to my knowledge, within fche limits thereof, any vein or lode of 
quartz, or other rod, in place, bearing -old, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal ; 
that there i- not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other 
valuable mineral depositor salines; that no portion of said land is claimed for mining purposes under 
the I, «id customs or rules of miners or otherwise; that no portion of said land is worked for mineral 

during any part of the year by any pera ' persons; that said land is essentially non-mineral land; 

thai I am not interested in any way or manner, directly or indirectly, present or prospective, in any 

applicati r declaration mad.' or to be made for said land, or in the land itself, or in the title which may 

by any person or in any manner he acquired thereto. 



49 



Land Office at 



(Bate) , 187—. 

I hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed before me this day, and that 
-, whose name is affixed thereto, is a person of respectability, to whose testimony full 



credence should be given. , Register. 

, Receiver. 



[No. 41.] 

No. . United States Land Office , 

(Date) , 187—. 

It is hereby certified, that under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, 

entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories," 

has this day filed in this office his declaration of intention to reclaim the following-described tract of 

land, viz: ; that he has proven to our satisfaction that the said tract of land is desert land 

as defined in the second section of said act, and that he has paid to the receiver the sum of dollars, 

being at the rate of twenty-five cents per acre for the land above described. 

It is, therefore, further certified, that if within three years from the date hereof the said — , 

or his assignee or legal representatives, shall satisfactorily prove that the said land has been reclaimed by 
carrying water thereon, and shall pay to the receiver the additional sum of one dollar per acre for the land 
above described, he or they shall be entitled to receive a patent therefor under the provisions of the 

said act. 

, Register. 

$ . , Receiver. 



[No. 42.] 
AN ACT providing for the sale of Saline lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled, That whenever it shall be made appear to the register and the receiver of any land office of 
the United States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it shall be the duty of said 
register and said receiver, under the regulation of the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference 
to such lands to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the General Land Office; and if, 
upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall find that such lands are saline 
and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to the public domain, 
then, and in such case, such lands shall be offered for sale by public auction at the local land office of the 
district in which the same shall be situated, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office, and sold to the highest bidder for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre ; and in case said lands fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall be subject 
to private sale, at such land office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, 
in the same manner as other lands of the United States are sold : Provided, That the foregoing enactments 
shall not apply to any State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of Congress, nor to any 
State which may have had such a grant, until either the grant has been fully satisfied, or the right of selection 
thereunder has expired by efflux of time. But nothing in this act shall authorize the sale or conveyance 
of an} T title other than such as the United States has, and the patents issued shall be in the form of a 
release and quit-claim of all title of the United States in such lands. 

Sec. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public lands shall be published in 
only one newspaper, the same to be printed and published in the State or Territory where the lauds are 
situated, and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Approved January 12, 1877. 

7 



50 



[No. 43.] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Title xxxn.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 8. 

RESERVATION AND BALE OF TOWN-SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

to be Sec. 2380. The President is authorized to reserve from the public lands, whether 

surveyed or unsurveyed, town-sites <>n the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, 
important portages, or any natural or prospective centers of population. 

Sec. 2381. When, in the opinion of the President, the public interests require it, it 

shall !«• the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause any of such reservations, or part 

, , . . • . . . , „ ., . ; , , ., , 

thereof, t" be surveyed into urban or suburban lots ot suitable size, and to nx by appraise- 
ment of disinterested persons their cash value, and to ofier the same for sale at public 
outcry to the highest bidder*, and thence, afterward tube held subject to sale at private 
entry according to such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; but no 
lot shall be disposed of at public sale or private entry for less than the appraised value 
thereof. And all such sales BhaU be conducted by the register and receiver of the land- 
office in the district in which the reservation may be situated, in accordance with the instruc- 
tion- of the ( Commissioner of the < leneral Land-* (ffice. 

SEC. '-': s -. In any case in which parties have already founded, or may hereafter 
desire to found, a city or town on the public lands, it may be lawful for them to cause to 






Ualj 

be hied with the recorder tor the county m which the same is situated, a plat thereof, tor 

not exceeding -ix hundred and forty acre.-, describing its exterior boundaries according to 

the lines ot' the public surveys, where such surveys have been executed; also giving the 

name of such city or town, and exhibiting the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the 

size of the game, with measurements and ana of each municipal subdivision, the lots in 

which shall each not exceed four thousand two hundred square feet, with a statement of the 

extent and general character of the improvements; such map and statement to be verified 

under oath by the party acting for and in behalf of the persons proposing to establish such 

city or town: and within one month after such filing there shall be transmitted to the 

General Land-Office a verified transcript of such map ami statement, accompanied by 

the testimony of two witnesses that such city or town has been established in good faith, 

and when the premises are within the limits of an organized land-district, a similar map 

and Statement shall be tiled with the register and receiver, and at any time after the filing 

of such map. statement, and testimony in the General Land-Office, it may be lawful for 

the President to cause the lot- embraced within the limits of such city or town to be 

offered at public sale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum of ten dollars for each 

lot; and such lot- a- may not In' disposed of at public sale shall thereafter be liable to 

private entry at such minimum, or at such reasonable increase or diminution thereafter as 

the Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, after at least three months' 

notice, in view of the increase or decrease in the value of the municipal property. But 

any actual settler upon any one lot, as above provided, and upon any additional lot in 

which he may have substantial improvements shall be entitled to prove up and purchase 

the same as a pre-emption, at such minimum, at anytime before the day fixed for the 

public -ale. 



51 

Sec. 2383. When such cities or towns are established upon unsurvcyed lands, it may when towns estab- 
be lawful, after the entension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the extension limits v«yea laX'exteSn 
of the premises according to those lines, where it can be done without interference with - ' s ' °" a ■' Ub,e ^ __ 
rights which may be vested by sale; and patents for all lots so disposed of at public or 3, v. 13, p. 344.'°' 
private sale shall issue as in ordinary cases. 

Sec. 2384. If within twelve months from the establishment of a city or town on the when transcript 
public domain, the parties interested refuse or fail to file in the General Land-Office Se5 S in°tw°ive month"! 
a transcript map, with the statement and testimony called for by the provisions of section tary of interior. 
twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, it may be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior 1 Jll 'y. m4 < "• 20S . 

J s. 4, .v. 13, p. 344. 

to cause a survey and plat to be made of such city or town, and thereafter the lots in the same 
shall be disposed of as required by such provisions, with this exception, that they shall 
each be at an increase of fifty per centum on the minimum of ten dollars per lot. 

Sec. 2385. In the case of any city or town, in which the lots may be variant as to Where size of lots or 

size from the limitation fixed in section twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, and in genera! 1 rule! ' ary 

which the lots and buildings, as municipal improvements, cover an area greater than six 3 March, isb?, c. 107, 

s. 2 v. 13 p. 530 

hundred and forty acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in area shall prove no 
bar to such city or town claim under the provisions of that section ; but the minimum price 
of each lot in such city or town, which may contain a greater number of square feet than 
the maximum named in that section, shall be increased to such reasonable amount as the 
Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish. 

Sec. 2386. Where mineral veins are possessed, which possession is recognized by Title to lots subject 
local authority, and to the extent so possessed and recognized, the title to town-lots to be om '" cra "g"" 

n ' . - . . . 3 March, 1865,0. 107, 

acquired shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof; but s. ■-', v. 13, p. 530. 
nothing contained in this section shall be so construed as to recognize any color of title in 
possessors for mining purposes as against the United States. 

Sec. 2387. Whenever any portion of the public lands have been or may be settled Entry of town 

. . , . ,. • -i i authorities in trust tor 

upon and occupied as a town-site, not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emption occupants. 
laws, it is lawful, in case such town be incorporated, for the corporate authorities thereof, ^? Iar gV 8 ' i7 ' ° - 177, 
and, if not incorporated, for the judge of the county court for the county in which such 
town is situated, to enter at the proper land-office, and at the minimum price, the land 
so settled and occupied in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, 
according to their respective interests ; the execution of which trust, as to the disposal of the 
lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, to be conducted under such regula- 
tions as may be prescribed by the legislative authority of the State or Territory in which 
the same may be situated. 

Sec. 2388. The entry of the land provided for in the preceding section shall be made, Entry under preced- 
or a declaratory statement of the purpose of the inhabitants to enter it as a town-site shall be S made.'° n ' 
be filed with the register of the proper land-office, prior to the commencement of the s March, 1867, c. 

.... 177 > v. 14, p. 541. 

public sale of the body of land in which it is included, and the entry or declaratory state- 
ment shall include only such land as is actually occupied by the town, and the title to 
which is in the United States ; but in any Territory in which a land-office may not have 
been established, such declaratory statements may be filed with the surveyor-general of the 
surveying-district in which the lands are situated ; who shall transmit the same to the 
General Land-Office. 

Sec. 2389. If upon surveyed lands, the entry shall in its exterior limit be made in Entry in proportion 

f 1-1-1-iT'* ^i -it-it -I'-iii ii t0 number ot inhabit- 

conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands authorized by law; and where ants - 

the inhabitants are in number one hundred, and less than two hundred, shall embrace not 2Mareh i867,c.i77, 

; ' V. 14, p. 541. 

exceeding three hundred and twenty acres; and in cases where the inhabitants of such 



52 

town are more than two hundred, and less than one thousand, shall embrace no! exceeding 
-i\ hundred and forty acres; and where the number of inhabitants is one thousand and 
over one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty acres; but for 

each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thousand in all, a further 
grant of three hundred and twenty acres shall lie allowed. 

Alllhi „ . Sec. 2390. The words "not exceeding live thousand in all," in the preceding section, 

-hall not apply to Salt Lake City, in the Territory of Utah; but such section shall he SO 

i j.,1, construed in its application to that city that lands may he entered tor the lull number of 

inhabitants contained therein, not exceeding fifteen thousand; and as that city covers 
school-section number thirty-six, in township number one north, of range number one 
west, the same may be embraced in such entry, and indemnity shall be given therefor 
when a grant i- made by Congress of sections sixteen and thirty -six, in the Territory of 
1 'tah, for school purposes. 
oftra* SEC. 2391. Any act of the trustees not made in conformity to the regulations alluded 

to in section twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven shall be void. 

v. I4,|xM1. 

SB . 2392. No title -hall be acquired, under the foregoing provisions of this chapter, 
to any mine oi gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper; or to any valid mining-claim or posses- 
don held under printing laws. 

SB . 2393. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to military or other reser- 
vation- heretofore made by the United States, nor to reservations for light-houses, custom- 
houses, mints, or such other public purposes as the interests of the United States may 
require, whether held under reservations through the Land-Office by title derived from 
the Crown of Spain, or otherwise. 
■t.„„. - . 2394. The inhabitants of any town located on the public lands may avail thcm- 

selves, it the town authorities choose to do so, ol the provisions 01 sections twenty-tlirec 
hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight, and twenty-three hun- 
dred and eighty-nine; and in addition to the minimum price of the lands embracing any 
town-site so entered, there shall be paid by the parties availing themselves of such provi- 
sions all costs of surveying and platting any such town-site, and expenses incident thereto 
incurred by the United Stale-, before any patent issues therefor; but nothing contained in 
the Bections herein cited shall prevent the issuance of patents to persons who have made or 
may hereafter make entries, and elect to proceed under other laws relative to town-sites in 
this chapter set forth. 



[No. 44.] 
\\ ACT respecting the limits of reservations for town-sites upon the public domain. 
/.'• U enacted by the SenaU "/<</ House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

bled, That the existence or i trporation of any town upon the public lands of the United States 

shall not Im- held to exclude from pre-emption or homestead entry a greater quantity than twenty-five 
hundred and sixty acres of land, or the maximum area which may be entered as a town-site under existing 
law-, null— the entire tract claimed or incorporated as such town-site shall, including and in excess of the 
area above specified, be actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, and used for business and municipal 
purp. 

- C. 2. That where entries have been heretofore allowed upon lands afterward ascertained to have 
been embraced in the corporate limits of any town, but which entries arc or shall be shown, to the satis- 
faction of the < ommissioner of the General Land Office, to include only vacant unoccupied lands of the 



53 

United States, not settled upon or used for municipal purposes, nor devoted to any public use of such 
town, said entries, if regular in all respects, are hereby confirmed and may be carried into patent: Provided, 
That this confirmation shall not operate to restrict the entry of any town-site to a smaller area than the 
maximum quantity of land which, by reason of present population, it may be entitled to enter under sec- 
tion twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 3. That whenever the corporate limits of any town upon the public domain are shown or 
alleged to include lands in excess of the maximum area specified in section one of this act, the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office may require the authorities of such town, and it shall be lawful for 
them, to elect what portion of said lands, in compact form and embracing the actual site of the municipal 
occupation and improvement, shall be withheld from pre-emption and homestead entry; and thereafter 
the residue of such lands shall be open to disposal under the homestead and pre-emption laws. And upon 
default of said town authorities to make such selection within sixty days after notification by the Com- 
missioner, he may direct testimony respecting the actual location and extent of said improvements, to be 
taken by the register and receiver of the district in which such town may be situated; and, upon receipt 
of the same, he may determine and set off the proper site according to section one of this act, and declare 
the remaining lands open to settlement and entry under the homestead and pre-emption laws; and it shall 
be the duty of the secretary of each of the Territories of the United States to furnish the surveyor-general 
of the Territory for the use of the United States a copy duly certified of every act of the legislature of the 
Territory incorporating any city or town, the same to be forwarded by such secretary to the surveyor- 
general within one month from date of its approval. 

Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for any town which has made, or may hereafter make entry of less than 
the maximum quantity of land named in section twentj'-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised 
Statutes to make such additional entry, or entries, of contiguous tracts, which may be occupied for town 
purposes as when added to the entry or entries theretofore made will not exceed twenty-five hundred and 
sixty acres: Prodded, That such additional entry shall not together with all prior entries be in excess of 
the area to which the town may be entitled at date of the additional entry by virtue of its population as 
prescribed in said section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



54 
UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES. 



Alabama. 
Mobile. 
I [untsville. 
Montgomery. 

ARRAS'S is. 

Little Rook. 

( 'aimliii. 
Harrison. 
I tordanelle. 

Arizona Ter. 
ott. 
Florence. 

( ' AMI i>l:\I \. 

S;ui Francisco. 
M in --villi". 
I [nmboldt. 

ickton. 
Yi-alia. 

- ramento. 
I <oe 
Shasta. 

- - uivilli". 
Independence. 

( OLOF \1»>. 

Denver City. 
Fair Play. 

< i-ntml ( Sty. 
Pneblo. 
D I Norte. 
Like City. 



Dakota Ter. 
Sioux Falls. 
Springfield. 
Far-". 
Yankton. 
Bismarck. 
Deadwood. 

Florida. 
Gainesville. 

1 1> vim Ter. 
I'.ui-,- City. 
Lewiston. 

low \. 

Fori Des Moines. 

Si(H|\ < 'ity. 

K w- \-. 
Topeka. 
Salina. 

Independence. 
Wichita. 
Kirwin. 

acordia. 
Lamed. 
I [ays < 'ity. 

LOT l-I SNA. 

New ( Orleans. 

Monroe. 

Natchitoches. 



Michigan. 

Detroit. 

East Saginaw. 

Imiia. 

Marquette.- 

Traverse ( 'ity. 
Minnesota. 

Taylor'.- Falls. 
Saint ( lloud. 

Du Luth. 
Fergus Falls. 
Worthington. 
New Flm. 
Benson. 
Detroit. 

Redwood Falls 
M ISSIS8IPPI. 
Jackson. 

MlSSOl RI. 

Boonville. 

[ronton. 

Springfield. 

Montana Ter. 
Selena. 

Bozeman. 

Nebraska. 
Norfolk. 
Beatrice. 
Lincoln. 
Niobrara. 
Grand Island. 



Nebraska — Cont'd. 
North Platte, 

Bloomington. 

Nevada. 

Carson City. 

Eureka. 
New Mexico Ter. 

Santa F6. 
La Mesilla. 

( >REGON. 

< >regon ( 'ity. 
Roseburg. 
Le Grand. 
Lakeview. 
The Dalles. 

Utah Ter. 

Salt Lake City. 

Washington Ter. 
( Hympia. 

Vancouver. 

Walla-Walla. 
Colfax. 

Wisconsin. 
Menasha. 

Falls of St. Croix. 
Wausau. 
La Crosse. 
Bayfield. 
Eau Claire. 
Wyoming Ter. 

Cheyenne. 
Evanston. 



1876, the land offices in Ohio, In. liana, and Illinois were abolished; and by act of March :s, 1877, the 
■" o. Indiana, and Ulim ■• made subject to entry and location at the General Land Office, Wash- 

' ' - ■• filiation?, on pages 11 and I 



CIECULAE 



FROM 



THE GENEKAL LAND OEEICE, 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, 
TIMBER CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 



ISSUED DECEMBEB 1, 1877. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1877. 






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